Strict US and European sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine have led to very real shortages of medical supplies in the country, with 134 lifesaving medicines becoming unavailable in Russian pharmacies during 2024, an investigation by Novaya Gazeta Europe has revealed.
Over the past year, according to a comparison of drug availability on Russian pharmacy website Megapteka.ru in late 2023 and late 2024, Russian patients lost easy access to 20 cancer drugs, five antibiotics, three antiepileptic drugs, insulin for pregnant women, immunosuppressants and various drugs used in the treatment of migraines, allergies, tuberculosis, HIV and malaria.
The medicine shortage has given rise to a flourishing black-market trade, however, with almost half of the medicines that are no longer available in pharmacies being available for sale on messaging app Telegram.
Unofficial resellers on Telegram confirmed that demand has been high over the past year for some 1,280 medicines, half of which are no longer available in Russian pharmacies. While the manufacture of medicines in Russia is in fact on the increase, due to a government focus on self-sufficiency, the majority of medicines for sale on Telegram were of foreign origin, chiefly being made in the US and Germany, particularly in the case of complex treatments for cancers and HIV, the investigation found.
The EU, US and other nations have imposed medical sanctions on Russia since 2022, both to block the export of medicines and medical devices and to impede clinical trials.
