Paraguay: Critical Drug Shortage Threatens Over 200 Pediatric Cancer Patients

Parents of children battling cancer are sounding the alarm over a severe medication shortage at Paraguay's central health institutions. The lack of essential drugs at IPS Central and the National Cancer Institute (Incan) threatens the treatment of over 200 young patients, potentially hindering their recovery.

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The situation is critical, especially for oncological children, because we are faced with the reality that we are without medication. Missing a single day of the correct medication is giving the cancer free rein.

Ruth Martínez, mother of a three-year-old with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, described the situation as "critical." She explained that missing even a single dose of the correct medication allows the cancer to advance. Her son's treatment, which began in February, requires specific chemotherapy drugs that are currently unavailable at both IPS Central and Incan.

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They informed me that for Monday, when he has to receive a chemotherapy medication, there is none in stock. Initially, they were going to look for it at Incan, but it's not there either.

Martínez noted that while families previously could source some medications from Incan when IPS lacked them, the current widespread shortage affects both facilities. The scarcity extends beyond expensive drugs to basic supplies like diuretics and ondansetron, used to manage chemotherapy side effects. Now, the unavailability of chemotherapy drugs themselves presents an insurmountable financial hurdle for many families, with costs running into millions of guaraníes.

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Now chemotherapy drugs are being added, and we are already talking about millions of guaraníes.