There is no improvement in sight regarding drug shortages in 2024: “The problem will not go away on its own.”

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It’s probably happened to many people: The pharmacy doesn’t have the medicine you want in stock due to delivery bottlenecks. Fortunately, there are often alternatives. But not always. Medicine shortages are especially difficult for pharmacies during the cold winter months.

But the big bottleneck is still around the corner: The flu pandemic usually hits full force by the end of January. “We have never started such a bad season,” says Lukas Korner (42), President of the Aargau Pharmacists Association. He runs a pharmacy with his wife in Gränichen AG.

Problem: 90 percent of the active ingredients in medicines come from India or China. There have been increasing bottlenecks in delivery since the pandemic.

Antibiotics are available on a limited basis

“Almost 800 medicines are missing now,” Enea Martinelli (58) tells Blick. Hospital pharmacist, vice president of the Pharmasuisse pharmacists association she. Approximately 9 percent of essential medications are affected. Development? Not in sight.

In addition to fever and painkillers, cold medicines such as cough syrup are especially in demand during the cold months. “Bacterial infections should be treated with antibiotics. These are only available to a limited extent,” says Martinelli. Pascal Bonnabry (55), chief pharmacist at Geneva University Hospital, talks about a “worrying” development that is now affecting the whole country.

St. This is why pharmacies only sell antibiotics in bulk, according to the Pharmacists Association of St. Gallen.

Pharmacies have their hands full due to the shortage. Pharmacist Korner says, “We are looking for alternatives such as importing the medicine from abroad or producing it ourselves.” All this means additional work for their employees. He also has to briefly interrupt his conversation with Blick to speak to a doctor due to lack of medication.

St. Claudia Meier-Uffer (51) from the Pharmacists Association of the Canton of St. Gallen also speaks of excessive additional effort. “We are slowly reaching a point where we are reaching our limits,” the association president said.

Because drug shortages affect almost everything. “There is a lack of supplies in general, such as medications for menopausal symptoms, antihypertensives or diabetes medications,” says Korner. The situation is “more dramatic than ever”, according to supplier and Migros partner Zur Rose in Switzerland. Spokesperson Simon Marquard said: “The shortage primarily affects cheap, common medicines that are no longer maintained, generic medicines such as painkillers, antibiotics, cough syrups, cancer drugs, as well as blood thinners.”

Tranquilizers, especially for palliative care, are also in short supply. For example, the sedative drug Temesta is sold only to hospitals due to the small amount available. Pharmacies were left empty-handed. There is no alternative.

There is politics now

In April, pharmacist associations, together with the medical profession and pharmaceutical wholesalers, launched the popular initiative “Yes to medical equipment safety.” The signature collection process continues. What is needed is a responsible federal authority, a strengthening of Switzerland’s location and more reliable supply chains from abroad.

«The people’s initiative is the only hope. As a pharmacist, I am disappointed about BAG,” said Korner from the Aargau Association. St. Gallen also says: “The problem will not go away on its own.”

“Together with our neighboring countries, we must develop strategies not only to obtain our active ingredients from a few countries, such as China or India, but also to increase the number of sources,” says Vice President Martinelli. The federal government has now recognized this need.

Source :Blick