Essential medicines are being rationed in KwaZulu-Natal. Informing the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature on the current medicines shortages in the country, Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo yesterday said " limited quantities" of medicines were being distributed to hospitals and clinics.The department also issued circulars advising doctors to prescribe alternatives for Benzyl penicillin, Ampicillin and Procaine Penicillin, which are in short supply.In May, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said manufacturers were unable to fulfil orders for certain medicines due to a lack of active pharmaceutical ingredients and batch failures.Dhlomo yesterday said the province had been working closely with the national health department to monitor stock.He reported that a number of interventions were in place, including sourcing critical medication from the UN Children's Fund, Romania and Europe.Among the other drugs in short supply are BCG vaccine, Tuberculin , morphine, Tilidine drops, Suxamethonium, Furosemide injection and Abacavir.But, said Dhlomo, there was no problem with antiretrovirals."More than 80% of adult patients on ARV medication have been switched over to the Fixed Dose Combination drugs, of which we have adequate stock."Nonetheless, for the small percentage of adult patients who are on single ARV agents due to various reasons, we do have enough single agent stock for them."The 2014 Stop Stock Outs Project survey report, released at the seventh Aids Conference in Durban last month, showed that many health centres experienced difficulty in dispensing HIV or TB medication as the drugs had not made it from the medicine depot .It found that the entire country was severely affected by drug shortages, with more than one in three health facilities reporting an ARV or TB drug being out of stock during the three-month period of the survey.Rural Doctors Association of Southern Africa spokesman Indira Govender said: "This situation is unacceptable because patients are the ones paying the cost of a dysfunctional system."They miss out on work or school to queue at a health facility, only to be told there is no medication or they need to come back again."Then they have to live with the stress of an untreated disease that puts them at risk of further illness or death."Patients are expected to remain adherent to treatment and are labelled 'defaulters' when they don't."But is this fair, when our health departments are defaulting on their medicine supply?"..