{"id":657475,"date":"2026-10-26T10:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T10:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/657475\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T10:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T10:36:18","slug":"blood-thinner-supply-under-pressure-as-national-supplier-falls-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/657475\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood Thinner Supply Under Pressure as National Supplier Falls Short"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa\u2019s public healthcare system is facing supply pressure involving three strengths of rivaroxaban, an anticoagulant used in the treatment and prevention of potentially dangerous blood clots and in certain patients with atrial fibrillation.<\/p>\n

In a circular issued on 23 October 2026, the National Department of Health<\/a> confirmed that its contracted national supplier is currently unable to supply rivaroxaban in 10mg, 15mg and 20mg tablet strengths.
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The Department identified Viatris Healthcare (Pty) Ltd<\/a> as the contracted supplier under the national tender.<\/p>\n

According to the circular, supply of the 10mg and 20mg tablets is anticipated to resume during November 2026, while the 15mg strength is expected to return during December 2026.<\/p>\n

Importantly, the notice does not state that South Africa has run out of rivaroxaban.<\/p>\n

Instead, National Health said alternative procurement arrangements have been put in place through the Provincial Pharmaceutical Quotations process. <\/p>\n

Under these arrangements, provinces can procure the affected products from Innovata Pharmaceuticals, Bayer and Adcock Ingram Healthcare.<\/p>\n

The Department said the available volumes through these arrangements should be sufficient to meet demand until the national contracted supplier resumes supply.<\/p>\n

However, one concern remains.<\/p>\n

National Health specifically warned of a possible risk of intermittent supply of rivaroxaban 10mg tablets, despite the alternative procurement arrangements. Healthcare facilities experiencing shortages of the 10mg strength have therefore been provided with guidance on alternative treatment options.<\/p>\n

Rivaroxaban belongs to a group of medicines known as direct-acting oral anticoagulants, commonly referred to as DOACs.<\/p>\n

Within South Africa\u2019s public-sector treatment guidelines, the medicine is used for several indications involving the prevention or treatment of blood clots.<\/p>\n

These include venous thromboembolism, which covers conditions such as deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, as well as the prevention of clotting in certain hospitalised and surgical patients. <\/p>\n

It is also now included as a treatment option for selected patients with atrial fibrillation, where anticoagulation is used to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism.<\/p>\n

The timing of the supply constraint is particularly notable because the role of rivaroxaban in South Africa\u2019s public healthcare treatment guidelines has recently expanded.<\/p>\n

In an updated National Essential Medicines List Committee report published on 30 July 2026, rivaroxaban was added as an option for patients with venous thromboembolism who require long-term or even lifelong anticoagulation.<\/p>\n

The Committee explained that the change followed a reduction in the price of rivaroxaban under the latest national pharmaceutical contract. <\/p>\n

Previously, its use beyond six months had not been supported on cost grounds.<\/p>\n

Then, in an updated cardiovascular guideline dated 14 August 2026, the National Essential Medicines List Committee also extended rivaroxaban\u2019s role to the management of atrial fibrillation in appropriate patients.<\/p>\n

Again, the Committee linked the change to the reduction in the medicine\u2019s price under the national contract.<\/p>\n

There is, however, no indication in the latest supply circular that these expanded treatment recommendations caused the current supply problem.<\/p>\n

The National Department of Health has supplied healthcare professionals with alternative treatment guidance should the affected rivaroxaban products become unavailable.<\/p>\n

For some patients requiring prevention of venous thromboembolism, these alternatives include injectable anticoagulants such as enoxaparin or unfractionated heparin, depending on the patient and clinical circumstances.<\/p>\n

This does not mean patients should switch medicines themselves.<\/p>\n

The circular is directed at provincial health authorities, pharmaceutical services and healthcare facilities, with treatment alternatives intended to be managed by healthcare professionals according to the patient\u2019s condition and existing national guidelines.<\/p>\n

National Health has asked provinces and healthcare facilities to distribute the information to relevant pharmaceutical and therapeutics committees and other stakeholders, adding that further updates will be communicated if the supply situation changes.<\/p>\n

For now, the Department\u2019s position is that alternative procurement should largely bridge the gap until normal national tender supply resumes. <\/p>\n

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The 10mg strength remains the product most at risk of intermittent availability, making stock monitoring and appropriate clinical substitution important over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Whilst here, be sure to read: Diabetes Testing Kits Recalled in South Africa Over Risk of Falsely Low Results<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s public healthcare system is facing supply pressure involving three strengths of rivaroxaban, an anticoagulant used in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[295835,37768,124741,110883,162747,163,85,46,482,173337,295836,294036,295837,295838],"class_list":["post-657475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-anticoagulants","tag-atrial-fibrillation","tag-blood-clots","tag-blood-thinners","tag-essential-medicines","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-medication","tag-medicine-supply","tag-national-department-of-health","tag-rivaroxaban","tag-south-africa-healthcare","tag-viatris-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}