The chief executive of Solomon Islands' national referral hospital is downplaying a drug shortage that has seen some doctors advising patients to bring their own medication when seeking treatment.
The outpatients area at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Photo: RNZ/Pacific Koroi Hawkins
Steve Aumanu told the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation the shortage was temporary and caused by a change in administrative procedures not financial difficulties.
Over the weekend doctors at the hospital posted on social media urging asthma patients to bring their own salbutamol solution when seeking to use the nebulisers in the emergency department.
They also posted that morphine supplies had run out and that one patient who had suffered a heart attack over the weekend was not given any painkillers at all.
The SIBC is also reporting new concerns from staff at the hospital that it is not only drugs but also equipment that is in short supply.
But Dr Aumanu said finances were available and all shortages would be addressed soon.
