"Prices Triple but No Supply" Shortage Crisis... Nurses Sigh as They Wait for Restock Notifications

Syringes for Medical Use Also Out of Stock...
"Prices Have Tripled"

"Systematic National-Level Management Needed for Strategic Medical Supplies"

"We have no choice but to just turn on the restock notifications and wait because we don't know when the supply will be available."

Nurse A, who works at an internal medicine clinic in Seocho-gu, Seoul, said that checking medical supply shopping malls during breaks in clinic hours has become an important part of her work routine. She said, "In the past, I could buy as many syringes as I needed, but these days, purchases are limited to just two or three boxes per size," adding, "The price has also soared from 7,000 won per box to more than three times that amount."

A box of disposable syringes is placed in an internal medicine consultation room in Jungnang-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jaehyun Park

The supply of syringes, an essential medical consumable, has become unstable as the supply chain for naphtha, a raw material for plastics, has been shaken by the aftermath of the Middle East war. Although the government is cracking down on hoarding, local clinics and hospitals, which have difficulty securing distribution channels due to some wholesalers controlling shipments, are experiencing shortages.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on April 27, as of 5 p.m. on April 23, the same-day shipment volume of syringes was 5.58 million units, with inventory levels at 46.38 million units. Since April 15, the Ministry has been announcing daily syringe supply trends every day at 5 p.m. Production has also increased, with priority supply being given to dialysis clinics and pediatric clinics.

However, mid- and small-sized clinics and hospitals, which heavily rely on online purchases due to difficulties in securing long-term distribution channels, are still complaining of shortages. Nurse B at a pediatric clinic in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, said, "We have secured enough supply for a month, so there's no immediate problem, but I'm worried about the future," with a sigh. A staff member at an internal medicine clinic in Songpa-gu, Seoul, also said, "We used to purchase syringes through wholesalers, but I heard the supply volume started decreasing about a month ago. Now, we can't buy multiple boxes at once and have recently been able to purchase only one box at a time."

As of the morning of April 27, syringes were still out of stock at some online malls. Even when a small quantity is restocked, the number of boxes that can be purchased is generally limited. Medical supply shopping malls posted notices stating, "Due to the Middle East conflict, some items may experience price increases and stockouts." As supply is low and prices are rising, whenever news of restocking is posted on social networking services (SNS), products quickly sell out, and this situation is repeating itself.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has conducted special crackdowns, including catching 32 companies engaged in illegal activities such as hoarding on April 24, but the shortage of syringes has not been resolved at clinics and hospitals. In a recent statement, the Korean Association of Internal Medicine criticized this response, saying, "Simple monitoring without expanding domestic production capacity and establishing a national stockpiling system for essential medical consumables is ineffective as a long-term solution."

As of 9 p.m. on the 24th, all syringe products on a medical consumables specialty online mall are marked as out of stock. Screenshot from the online mall

The medical community and the medical supplies industry are pointing to problems in the distribution process. As supply of raw materials such as naphtha has become unstable, some wholesalers are engaging in "holding" (shipment control) by stockpiling syringes in their warehouses. A Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official explained, "We plan to continue crackdowns by analyzing the daily reports we receive from manufacturers and vendors on production, sales, and inventory, as well as examining the distribution channels between sellers."

Experts have pointed out the need for government-level management of essential medical consumables. Eom Joongsik, professor of infectious diseases at Gachon University Gil Medical Center, said, "Korea imports a significant portion of its medical supplies, but there is a lack of comprehensive data on the actual distribution and production processes for essential medical consumables. In addition to vaccines, systematic management of consumables such as syringes is necessary."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.