The drug shortage in Switzerland has been around for a long time, but the flu, the coronavirus and the like have exacerbated the situation recently. For example, there is no fever-reducing syrup for children, but antibiotics are also not available in unlimited quantities due to problems in China.
Enea Martinelli, chief pharmacist of the Bernese hospitals Frutigen, Meiringen and Interlaken and vice president of the pharmacy association Pharmasuisse, maintains his own list on his website drugshortage.ch of all medicines that are currently scarce in Switzerland – there are 987. He does not expect that the situation will improve in the short term, he says in an interview with CH Media.
That’s why administrative relief from the federal government is important in the short term, Martinelli. The cantons should no longer be responsible for the supply of medicines, Martinelli also demanded in an interview with Tamedia. “That does not work.”
Until now, the Federal Bureau of National Economic Provision has only dealt with vital medicines and acute care. More extensive monitoring is needed in the medium term, Martinelli told CH Media. “For example, epilepsy or Parkinson’s drugs, which are not notifiable today, but patients need them every day.”
Martinelli sees the reason for the drug shortage in low prices. Cheap drugs are of no interest to the manufacturer. The heart drug digoxin is half as expensive in Switzerland as abroad, “and it is no longer offered in Switzerland,” he told Tamedia as an example.
Companies would not request a price increase from the Federal Public Health Service because the effort was too great and the market too small.
The Federal Council reclassified the situation as “problematic” on Wednesday. A group of experts led by Deputy for National Economic Supply, Kurt Rohrbach, must now find measures that will quickly ease the bottlenecks.
Medium- and long-term measures have already been taken, according to the Bundesrat. They aim to signal production and delivery bottlenecks earlier and more widely. In addition, the handling of bottlenecks must be made easier. In addition, market conditions need to be improved. (con/sda)
source: watson
I’m Maxine Reitz, a journalist and news writer at 24 Instant News. I specialize in health-related topics and have written hundreds of articles on the subject. My work has been featured in leading publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Healthline. As an experienced professional in the industry, I have consistently demonstrated an ability to develop compelling stories that engage readers.
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