In Russia, due to sanctions, problems with medicines and food began

In Russia, medicines and medical equipment produced by countries that have imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation due to the war in Ukraine are rapidly rising in price or disappearing from the sale, reports with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

Many people forced to take such drugs are at risk.

The sanctions imposed against Russia because of the war in Ukraine do not apply to medical goods, but due to the peculiarities of logistics and procurement on the Russian market, medicines and medical equipment still disappear.
“Because there are no more established logistics, manufacturers are ready to make shipments... No one understands how to deliver yet,” says neuro-urologist Galina Tishchenko. She notes that sellers “held back the goods in hopes of selling them at a higher price a little later,” and the fact that people began to buy medicines for future use “exposed retail.”

On March 8, Russia introduced a temporary ban on the export of foreign medical devices from the country, the decree was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The restriction will affect medical devices that were delivered from countries that have joined the sanctions and are now in the warehouses of importers or are undergoing customs procedures.
On March 3, at a government meeting, Mishustin announced a set of measures to stimulate the pharmaceutical production of drugs in Russia, and also promised to expand the possibilities for purchasing any drugs by medical institutions under a simplified procedure.

On the subject: The American cosmonaut and the head of Roskosmos staged a tough skirmish in social networks because of the sanctions

Patients and representatives of charitable foundations say that at the moment problems with foreign-made drugs have already begun.

Diabetes: queues in pharmacies for insulin

People with type 1 diabetes were among the first to experience interruptions in the insulin they needed every day. “I immediately ran to the pharmacies,” says Muscovite Konstatin Svirin, who has insulin-dependent diabetes. “Now it’s quite difficult to find insulin in them; we had to track them through all sorts of drug searches and in databases of receipts. The queues at pharmacies are very long.”

He didn’t even try to get a prescription for free insulin in the last ten days - he was busy stocking up on the medications he needed with his own money. However, having looked at the rise in prices, in the future Konstantin plans to start receiving prescriptions at his district clinic. Svirin takes foreign-made insulin, and he has no idea whether it will be provided in the future.

Anna Mukhina, the mother of a child with insulin-dependent diabetes from Saratov, says that on March 2 she was able to get a prescription for European-made insulin at the clinic, but she does not yet know whether the necessary medicine is actually available in pharmacies. “They say that Novorapid, a Danish-made insulin, still appears sometimes in pharmacies, but Humalog is no longer available at all,” she says. “As for what will happen next, it seems to me that the manufacturing company will not be interested in selling insulin in the retail market if they have lost large government purchases.”

Mukhina says that the diabetic community has already begun to “actively fight” for Russian insulin. “On the one hand, thank God that these analogues exist, but on the other hand, everyone, from their own experience, treats Russian “pharma” with caution. We are all anxious,” she adds.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy: “Everyone is busy with logistics”

There are no Russian-made analogues for risdiplam, spinraza and zolgensma - drugs that are vital for people with spinal muscle therapy, an orphan (rare) disease. Alexander Kurmyshkin, a neurologist and head of the charity foundation “Help to SMA Families,” says that the physical availability of drugs in Russia is “somewhere until the end of April.” It is difficult to analyze what will happen next with logistics and procurement.

“Our adults [people with SMA] were on risdiplam, received an injection - and it is not clear what will happen next. Because children were given guarantees for the near future, but with adults it’s more difficult.”

Kurmyshkin notes that of particular concern, even if routes for drug delivery are found, are procurements that are carried out from regional budgets. “They were simply not prepared for such expenses - prices had already risen one and a half times,” he adds.

“Now we have the last bottle of risdiplam,” says Tatyana Sveshnikova, the mother of a child with SMA. “On March 14, Dima and I are expected at the orphan clinic at the Morozov hospital and will be given medicine for another 60 days.”

“We are doing well so far, manufacturing companies have assured that supplies to Russia are not expected to stop, but logistics have become more complicated,” says Olga Germanenko, director of the SMA Families Foundation. “We don’t know the rest yet; everyone is busy with delivery routes and the deliveries themselves.”

“We should receive our drug on April 9 and we really hope so,” says Beso Surmanidze, the father of a two-year-old child with SMA. “But we don’t yet know whether the drug exists in Russia or not... We haven’t been told anything officially yet, but we hope that it exists.”

Orphan diseases: “The situation is acute”

Svetlana Sakharova, head of the Rost community of parents of children with disabilities, notes that problems have already appeared in children with epidermolysis bullosa - with this disease, the skin is injured from the slightest mechanical impact, and a lot of technological dressings are required to compensate for the consequences. “The situation is acute. In particular, in Crimea (annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014), the auction did not have time to purchase what was needed - and we were told that there would be no more supplies,” she adds.

Elena Meshcheryakova, director of the Fragile Foundation for people with osteogenesis imperfecta (increased fragility of bones), says: “We have already lost the German medicine and it is impossible to buy it.”

“Thank God, our drugs are being replaced by Russian-made drugs,” she adds. “The situation is still being resolved, it’s just unusual to switch to Russian analogues.”

Fatima Medvedeva, a mother of two children with spina bifida, tells how she tried to buy catheters. Without them, the kidneys of people with spina bifida do not work. “The day before the start of the “special operation” they cost 700 rubles per pack of ten pieces. On the second day of the “special operation” I wanted to buy more - and they were practically nowhere to be found, and where they were, they already cost from 1300 to 1900 rubles per pack.”

The woman ordered catheters from wherever she could - and one of the suppliers, instead of four packs of ten catheters, delivered “five catheters in a bag, not packages.” Medvedeva has been trying to make a refund for the second day, but so far without success.

“Today I called a specialized website for the sale of catheters and asked how many were in stock - they told me one hundred pieces at the old price. The operator very persistently advised us to take them, because they would either become very expensive or they would not be available at all. In my son’s case, 100 catheters is just over a week,” she adds.

Oncology: “What will happen to new supplies is unclear”

“There is a stock of basic chemicals in clinics, how long it will last and what will happen with new supplies is not yet clear,” says Anastasia Zakharova, director of the Enbi Foundation for children with neuroblastoma (the second most common type of childhood cancer). — The main issue is logistics. It seems that options are emerging, and the pharmaceutical company is looking for logistics solutions.”
Logistical solutions for those who need bone marrow transplants are vital - and so far they have been solved. For example, the Gift of Life foundation said that in a closed airspace over Europe, they managed to deliver stem cells from a foreign donor to a child in Moscow. For this purpose, a meeting of two couriers took place in Istanbul, air traffic with which is not yet closed to Russia - and the period of 48 hours, critical for the safety of stem cells, was not exceeded.

But patients from Moscow clinics where bone marrow transplants are performed are told that the search for donors in European registries is “suspended for now.”

Muscovite Maria V., who did not want to give her last name for security reasons, said that on March 7 she donated blood for typing in order to enter the Russian donor registry.

“Russia has a monstrously small base of bone marrow donors: a little more than sixty thousand throughout the country. Coincidences happen less than once in a thousand, and this means that Russians who are now unable to receive donor cells from foreign donors will simply find themselves without help. That is, they will die. The Russian state is now at war not only with Ukraine, but also with its own citizens. And becoming a donor means becoming part of the resistance.”

Trade networks in Russia limit the sale of certain goods to one person

A number of retail chains in Russia have introduced a restriction on the sale of a number of socially significant goods in one hand. We are talking about sugar, butter, flour, cereals and other products. Newspaper.

On March 5, the largest retailers asked to be allowed to limit the sale of certain goods with a minimum markup to one hand to fight resellers. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry and Trade supported the initiative.

Auchan limited the supply of sugar, salt, cereals and butter to one hand due to high demand. For example, in Moscow, the buyer was not sold three packs of flour. The network itself explained that this is necessary to keep goods on the shelves, and there is no shortage of products in warehouses.

“Delivery from the warehouse and restoration of the display on the shelf after several such large purchases may take time, during which some buyers will be left without goods,” the retail chain said in a message.
The Lenta hypermarket chain has also imposed restrictions on the sale of cereals, sugar, coffee, tea, oils, fast food, condiments, sauces, canned meat and fish, oils, cosmetics, laundry detergents, toilet paper, children's household chemicals and diapers.

“Now we are forced to introduce restrictions related to the management of current stocks. This measure was introduced to eliminate the risks of accelerated disposal of these goods,” the chain said in a statement.

The retail chains Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, Karusel, Chizhik and the online hypermarket Vprok.ru Perekrestok (X5 Group) warned of restrictions on large purchases of certain goods.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

We are talking about groceries, which are in high demand in a number of regions in recent days - these are sugar, buckwheat, sunflower oil and other products. According to an X5 representative, the decision to limit purchases is not due to a shortage of products, but to the fact that suppliers do not have time to pack and prepare it for delivery to retailers.

In early March, large retail chains adopted recommendations from regulators to limit markups on certain food products at the level of 5%.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• On the night of February 24 began full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine.
• In the light of these events in Russia and around the world, protests against the invasion of Ukraine
• US and UK imposed broad economic sanctions against Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.
• February 25 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to sit down at the negotiating table. Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Putin is ready to send a delegation to Minsk (Belarus) for negotiations with Kiev. He specified that the delegation will include representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the presidential administration.
• In the USA there were large-scale rallies in support of Ukraine.
• Pope Francis visits the Russian Embassy February 25, to personally "express his concerns about the war" in Ukraine, which made an unprecedented deviation from diplomatic protocol.
• European Union, USA and UK imposed sanctions and froze the assets of Putin and Lavrov.
• The United States declared its readiness to start accept refugees from Ukraine.
• February 26, the world famous and one of the most popular groups of hackers Anonymous recorded a video message to Russian President Vladimir Putin. They promised to find all "skeletons in the closet" and "leave no stone unturned".
• As it became known, the Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Sean Penn is located in Ukraine and is making a documentary for Vice about events in the country.
• February 28 The world's largest aircraft An-225 was destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it caused alarm and sadness among the aviation world, in which it occupies an almost cult status.
• On the same day, the United States and France called on their citizens immediately consider leaving Russia.
• From the very beginning of the invasion, many actions took place around the world in support of Ukraine. How it was in the USA, see our material.
• On March 1, the United States asked 12 Russian diplomats from the United Nations leave the US accusing them of "espionage activities" as Russia continues its advance into Ukraine.
• March 2 Russian businessman Alex Konanykhin offered a $1 million reward for dead or alive Putin.
• Airbus and Boeing refused to work with Russia, this endangers almost the entire civil aviation of the country.
• March 3 CEO and founder of the Russian TV channel "Rain" announced the suspension of the channel. This is due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• Which of the Hollywood stars supported Ukraine, and who was on the side of Russia, read here.
• What Russians living in Ukraine say about the war, you can find out in our material.
• Which companies left Russia and how it hit the economy, read on link.
• Where citizens of Ukraine can receive special services in Poland - by link.
• The US State Department has warned citizens of Ukraine that the US Mission in Ukraine does not currently offer visa services. That's it services provided in Germany.
• Meanwhile, the killers tried to kill the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky at least three times since Russia invaded his country on February 24.
• In Russia, the situation with free media is becoming more and more difficult. Even relatives of Ukrainians from Russia do not believe in shelling of Ukraine.
• Russian diplomats announced persona non grata, left the US, and the Russian airlines stop international flights.
• Meanwhile at the International Court of Justice in The Hague began consideration of the claim of Ukraine to Russia. The subject of the lawsuit is allegations of genocide.
• Russia began active preparations for shutdown from the global internet.
• Thousands of Ukrainians are leaving the country. 11-year-old boy from Zaporozhye made it to the border with Slovakia and crossed it on foot.
• The United States supports Ukraine: both government officials and ordinary Americans. 20 workers in West Coast ports refuse tohandle Russian cargo. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky was awarded a medal Liberty Ronald Reagan.

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US Airlines Offer Subscription Programs: Does It Save Money?

An 11-year-old boy from Zaporizhia traveled alone a thousand kilometers to Slovakia to escape the war

USCIS provides special services to immigrants affected by the war in Ukraine

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