Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jun 5;12(6):e0178429.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178429. eCollection 2017.

Medicine shortages in Fiji: A qualitative exploration of stakeholders' views

Josephine Walker  1 , Betty B Chaar  1 , Numa Vera  2 , Alvish S Pillai  2 , Jessy S Lim  1 , Lisa Bero  1   3 , Rebekah J Moles  1
Affiliations

Medicine shortages in Fiji: A qualitative exploration of stakeholders' views

Josephine Walker et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: Medicine access is a human right; yet, concerningly, there are international instances of shortages. Quantitative data has allowed WHO to propose global solutions; however, individualised understanding of specific regions is still required to work towards national solutions. Fiji has an established issue with medication supply and the aim of this study was to use qualitative methods to gain a fuller understanding of this context.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were used to gain the perspective of key stakeholders involved in the Fijian medicine supply chain in regards to causes, impacts and possible solutions of medicine shortages. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data.

Results: In total, 48 stakeholders participated and the information was synthesised into three main themes, causes, impacts and solutions and the sub-themes including; political, system and patient causes, adverse health effects on patients, professional dissatisfaction, monetary loss and loss of faith in the health system, workarounds, operation improvements, government intervention and education and training.

Conclusions: The situation in Fiji is not dissimilar to other instances of shortages around the world and hence international solutions like that proposed by WHO are feasible; however, they must be modified to be uniquely Fijian to work in this context.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. A summation of how patient’s access medicines within the Fijian healthcare setting [14].
(The arrows represent movement towards an area, whether this be people or medicine. The thicker arrows indicate heavier use of this pathway.). Additional explanation of the different aspects can be found in Table 1.
Fig 2
Fig 2. A summary of topics discussed by 48 participants in 37 interviews.
The yellow bars indicate the causes, red the impacts and blue the solutions.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Summation of the causes and impacts of shortages expressed as an influence diagram.
The arrows represent the influence one aspects holds over another.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hogerzeil HV. Essential medicines and human rights: what can they learn from each other? Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2006;84(5):371–5. doi: /S0042-96862006000500016 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Duong M, Moles RJ, Chaar B, Chen TF. Essential Medicines in a High Income Country: Essential to Whom? PLoS ONE. 2015;10(12):e0143654 Epub 2015/12/10. PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPmc4674059. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143654 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anonymous. Medicine shortages—Finding local solutions to a global problem. SA Pharmaceutical Journal. 2013;80(10):45–7.
    1. Bogaert P, Bochenek T, Prokop A, Pilc A. A Qualitative Approach to a Better Understanding of the Problems Underlying Drug Shortages, as Viewed from Belgian, French and the European Union's Perspectives. PLoS ONE. 2015;10(5):e0125691 PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC4420462. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0125691 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chaar BB. Medicine shortages: Implications for the Australian healthcare system. The Australasian Medical Journal. 2014;7(3):161–3. doi: 10.4066/AMJ.2014.1943 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources