As key medicines, including antibiotics, fever drugs, and painkillers, are becoming scarce in German pharmacies, doctors warn that children and teenagers could be hit hardest.
According to the Federal Agency for Drugs and Medical Devices, the shortages are exclusively due to unusually high demand.
“It is not like smaller quantities of fever drugs were put on the market,” a spokesperson told daily SZ, adding that the import of such medicines increased, according to the agency’s analyses.
They also called on consumers not to stockpile drugs as it could worsen the situation.
“We see a very high demand for drugs like Ibuprofen and Paracetamol because many children are currently ill,” Thomas Fischbach, president of the Federal Pediatricians’ Association, told the Rheinische Post.
He called on the government to launch a large-scale procurement campaign – similar to that in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic – to secure supplies.
Data released by the Robert Koch Institute, a government agency for disease control and prevention, shows that almost ten million Germans are currently affected by the flu and other respiratory infections, a higher number than usual.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told reporters on Thursday that the Ministry is already working on a solution and will present measures within two weeks.
This could include releasing health insurance from their obligation to purchase drugs only where they are cheapest and changes to the country’s procurement law meant to help minimise the dependency on individual producers.
(Julia Dahm | EURACTIV.de)
Source: euractiv.com
