Table 5

Most common reasons behind medicines shortages (mentioned by ≥17 respondents)

Reasons of shortagen*
Raw material-related issues35
Lack of traditional distribution system32
Sudden demand fluctuation30
Poor inventory management and procurement procedure27
Product’s financial non-viability or low price26
Marketing influenced prescribing22
Production hurdles17

  • *’n’ refers to the frequency of reported reason among total respondents. Each answer was quantified once per respondent.