Maldives runs out of crucial thalassemia med – desferal

Maldives has run out of desferal (deferoxamine), an essential medication required by thalassemia patients to remove excess iron from their bodies.

An official from the Maldives Thalassemia Society confirmed to Sun on Monday that the country has run out of the med.

According to the official, the company that supplies the med to Maldives faced an issue and abruptly discontinued the supply.

The official said that even with an alternative, the earliest the med can get supplied to Maldives is June 15.

The official said that the Maldives Thalassemia Society contacted Maldives Blood Services as soon as it became aware of the situation, and informed all thalassemia patients about the lack of availability of the drug.

“While some patients can take only desferal, there are some who can take other meds. Given the lack of availability of desferal, we are working on finding alternatives. Institutions are working on it,” said the official.

The situation arose after the latest stock of desferal expired on May 31.

Maldives has over 900 thalassemia patients. Many of them have taken to social media to express their concern over the situation.