Parallel to the increase in the number of patients affected by mental disorders, the demand for the purchase of drugs that treat them has also increased. Stress, depression and anxiety do not depend on age or gender. As a result of the symptoms of these diseases, a large number of patients turn to pharmacies to buy “Diazepam”, “Xanax”, and other types of similar drugs. Even more worrying is the fact that they are often being sought without a doctor’s prescription.
The director of the Psychiatry Clinic at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo, Faton Kutllovci, says that the number of patients affected by stress, anxiety and depression has increased by about 40 percent in 2023, compared to the previous year.
Kutllovci told KosovaPress that in 2023, about nine thousand more outpatient services were offered, compared to 2022.
Meanwhile, Kutllovci lists several causes that contribute to the increase of those affected by these disorders and the demand to buy drugs for their cure.
The non-protocol description of the therapy, the prescription of drugs for the treatment of these diseases by psychologists, internists, neurologists, the possibility of purchasing them without a prescription from a health professional, the pharmacist’s intervention in the dose or type of medicine, are some of the reasons that Kutllovci lists that can influence that patients end in fatality.
Likewise, the neurosurgeon, Afrim Blyta, has told KosovaPress that the possibility of access to medications for the treatment of mental disorders is easy in our country, while emphasizing that this is affecting the deterioration of the patients’ health.
Also the pharmacist, Valon Azemi, claims that an increase of about 30 percent in requests for these drugs has been observed. In a written response to KosovaPress, he mentions that patients are asking to buy antidepressants without a doctor’s prescription, for which he says he refuses to do such a thing.
In addition, according to the data sent to KosovaPress by the Kosovo Agency for Medicinal Products and Equipment (AKPPM), over 600,000 packages of Xanax, Diazepam, Clonapezam were imported into our country during the year 2023 and the four months of this year.
These drugs are considered to be among the most prescribed and sought after for the treatment of mental disorders.
“Referring to the verified data in our electronic system based on the following request for the requested period of time (2023, four months of the year 2024), it resulted in the following data: The product Xanax was imported with a quantity of 98 104 packages, the product Diazepam is imported with a quantity of 442 751 packages, the Clonazepam product was imported with a quantity of 67 000 packages”, reads the response of the AKPPM sent via email.
