{"id":864454,"date":"2026-06-25T14:33:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T12:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=864454"},"modified":"2026-06-25T14:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T12:33:07","slug":"contraceptive-shortage-in-south-africa-as-pharma-giant-hit-with-production-disruptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/864454\/contraceptive-shortage-in-south-africa-as-pharma-giant-hit-with-production-disruptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Contraceptive shortage in South Africa as pharma giant hit with production disruptions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many South Africans are having difficulty obtaining their monthly supply of oral contraceptives due to ongoing shortages linked to production disruptions at Aspen Pharmacare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delays in manufacturing at the JSE-listed company have resulted in limited availability of several widely used state-subsidised contraceptives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes products such as Triphasil, Nordette, and Microval, having limited availability at clinics and pharmacies nationwide, as reported by the Department of Health.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aspen said that its East London-based oral contraceptive manufacturing facility was decommissioned in the first quarter of 2026, which has played a significant role in the shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAspen has, for many decades, produced these products at a dedicated oral contraceptive facility down in East London, and these products have become economically unviable to continue producing,\u201d Aspen Pharmacare Group Senior Executive of Strategic Trade Development, Stavros Nicolaou, said in an interview on Cape Talk.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that the capital expenditure required to upgrade facilities does not justify the economic viability constraint they are experiencing as manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicolaou said that the single biggest cause of this is the lack of certainty or predictability in public sector volumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturing necessitates significant upfront investments in machinery, personnel, and raw materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicolaou explained that private companies cannot afford to invest in building local factories if the government’s purchasing practices are erratic or lack foresight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without guaranteed, predictable demand from the government, local factories struggle to survive, leading to a country’s complete dependence on foreign imports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no public procurement scrutiny, and certainly the trends that we have analysed are demonstrating very clearly that we are significantly eroding our domestic pharmaceutical capacities, that\u2019s across the board,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicolaou explained that this issue is what \u201ctriggered the problem in the first place,\u201d which occurred as early as January 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An ongoing concern<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Aspen Pharmacare Group Senior Executive of Strategic Trade Development, Stavros Nicolaou <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The group said it has since taken extensive action and corrective measures to prioritise the supply of certain oral contraceptives to the local public and private sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAspen took appropriate measures to successfully transition supply containing the same active ingredient to imported branded supply,\u201d Aspen told BusinessTech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pharma group said this decision was made to ensure a long-term, sustainable supply in the best interests of patients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPublic sector supply, which constitutes more than 90% of demand, was prioritised and the public sector demands continue to be fully met,\u201d said the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The private sector, on the other hand, which constitutes a minority of patients, requires a market authorisation transfer for imported branded products from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAspen is actively working with SAHPRA to prioritise this application and transfer,\u201d Aspen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said that private-sector supply constraints are expected to ease once SAHPRA approvals are obtained, which will allow Aspen to shift to imported branded products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the interim, alternative equivalents are available to the minority of patients in the private sector through retail pharmacy chains and healthcare professionals,” said Aspen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healthcare retailer and pharmacy Clicks told BusinessTech that it is providing alternatives equivalent to the contraceptives that are currently in shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAspen has advised that certain oral contraceptive brands, including Triphasil and Nordette, are currently experiencing supply constraints,” Clicks Chief Healthcare Officer Graeme Leon told BusinessTech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that, where appropriate, suitable alternatives may be available, and customers are encouraged to speak to their healthcare professional or Clicks pharmacist for advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans are facing a shortage of oral contraceptives produced by Aspen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":864492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[6193,3828],"class_list":["post-864454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-aspen-pharmacare","tag-clicks-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864454"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":864670,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864454\/revisions\/864670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}