Pharmacists warn of drugs shortage
Patients could be in danger as some medicines are out of supply for days at a time
PHARMACISTS have warned that some supplies of some medicines are running short – and said each day chemists find they cannot supply 5% of the drugs patients need.
The medicines cover the whole range of anti-cancer drugs, anti-coagulants, antibiotics and vaccines and the Académie de Pharmacie says the shortages could cause serious problems for patients who need them. Some drugs can be out of stock for more than four days.
Chemists are having to call round other suppliers and other pharmacies to see if they have any supplies – and the shortages run across the whole range of drugs.
The Academie says the problem is caused by the complicated round-the-world route the majority of drugs have to take as up to 80% of the principal ingredients are made in Asia. That means that any delay is multiplied all along the supply chain.
It adds that 30 years ago only 20% of drugs would be made in the China and India and it called for a policy of actively relocating the manufacture of “strategic” drugs “vital for public health” back to Europe.
The supply problem had been compounded as manufacture of some drugs in Europe had been abandoned as unprofitable while other drugs were more valuable in other countries, which meant they were getting priority in supply.
Problems with the quality of the drugs have also prompted a call for new European standards and controls.
