Medication Exchange and Sharing Network Program (MESNP) initiative to cope with drug shortages in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

Abstract

Background

Drug shortages are a major public health concern and remain a persistent problem worldwide. At present, there are no unified existing strategies for managing medicine stocks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Here, the aim is to describe our experience with creating a non-profit voluntary national Medication Exchange and Sharing Network Program (MESNP) throughout the KSA.

Methods

A quality improvement process map method was used in this project. The baseline evaluation included a review of possible reasons and strategies for managing medication shortages and recognizing potential associated safety issues. To that end, at the national level, we developed MESNP as a novel project to cope with medication shortages using Telegram social media as the preferred program for connecting with the member institution.

Results

A total of 500 requests were received over one year. Three hundred and fifteen (315) constituted requests for drug supplies due to shortages while the number of reports indicating the availability of overstock drug for re-distribution is (185). Almost 98% of overstocking drug reports was re-distributed in which it covers 75% of drug shortage requests.

Conclusion

This novel project aims to use our current resources by facilitating the medication exchange and sharing between the organizations at national level. The optimistic goal is to proactively mitigate drug wastages and prevent drug shortages toward better patient care.

Keywords:

• medication exchange
• sharing project
• drug shortages

Acknowledgments

We would like to recognize and thank all pharmacists who participated and served in the Medication Exchange and Sharing Network Program under the umbrella of the development of pharmacy career group, and who gave freely of their time and expertise. Their efforts have been extremely helpful in the writing of this paper. We would also like to thank the reviewers, whose comments also helped improve this publication. This research project received no external funding.

The abstract of this project was presented at the following meetings:

1. The American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP), Midyear 2018, Clinical Meeting and Exhibition, Anaheim, California, United States, as an oral presentation

2. The 9th Patient Safety Forum 2019 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as an oral presentation (April 23, 2019) indexed in BMJ open quality proceeding (https://patientsafety.ksau-hs.edu.sa/Documents/2019%20Conference%20Proceedings.pdf)

3. The 28th PPAG Annual Meeting Poster Abstracts Gallery (April 2019) https://ppagannual.secure-platform.com/a/gallery?roundId=9.

Ethical consideration

This project received exemption (Voluntary, confidential, No human subject involve or participant identifiers) by Institutional Review Board (IRB) of King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Saudi Arabia.

Author contributions

Both authors contributed to data analysis, drafting or revising the article, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.