00:00Every 21 days since she was eight years old,
00:05Rachelle has received an injection of bisolin to treat rheumatic heart disease.
00:09I had sore joints, specifically like my knees.
00:13I couldn't really walk. It was like affecting my ability to walk.
00:18Sore throat. That's how it started.
00:21The medicine has been in short supply globally since 2023.
00:25Now, in a letter seen by the ABC, NT Health has warned its temporary supplier has run out of the product.
00:32To support continuity of care, the TGA extended approval for temporary supply of the French brand Extensilin.
00:38Extensilin is now depleted, with no further importation from France possible.
00:43I can't even bring words. We have such a high number and if people couldn't access that medication,
00:50then our clinics are already understaffed and we already have issues with people accessing the medication.
00:58The Northern Territory has the highest rates of rheumatic fever among First Nations people in the country,
01:03five times higher than that of Western Australia.
01:06The high demand has sent clinicians across the territory on a wild goose chase for bisolin.
01:10But even the suppliers listed as backup options by NT Health aren't delivering fast enough, or at all.
01:16Malala Health Service in Maningrida received just 20 of an expected 200 doses in a recent order.
01:22And it's not just rheumatic heart disease patients that could suffer as a result.
01:26At the moment the Northern Territory is going through a bit of a syphilis outbreak,
01:30and that is the medication of choice in order to treat syphilis.
01:34In a statement, NT Health said supplies are being carefully managed to ensure people who need the medicine continue to receive it.
01:40But it's no reassurance to clinicians like Ms Gatti, who will need to ration 30 doses among more than 170 patients over the next month.
01:48By maybe needing to delay the administration of bisolin to anyone who isn't a P1 or P2.
01:56We're leaving days at risk where they may actually develop worsening conditions and a worsening rheumatic heart disease.
02:04The issue is set to persist until at least September.
02:08We're leaving days at Yuckoo and Salaman and David, in the knownynaston.
02:16We were leaving days at risk where we did the northern Slide 14 season.
02:20We're leaving days at risk where the virus is starting to stay, and in the year I was missing out on the planet.
02:26We're leaving days at risk where we're staying, but we're going to try and get back up.
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