The Minister of Health was criticized from many quarters because of shortages of medicines.
(Photo: Reuters)
Berlin Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has presented measures to combat supply bottlenecks for children’s medicines in autumn and winter. “This winter we will make sure that parents get the medication they need,” said Lauterbach on Thursday after a crisis summit at the Ministry of Health with representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, pharmacists and the medical profession.
If there is a sharp increase in infections with the flu or RS virus, one cannot rule out that delivery bottlenecks will arise again. At the same time, however, the situation is better for several reasons than last autumn and winter, when several children’s medicines were no longer available.
Last winter, after a wave of infections, delivery problems arose with fever and cough syrups for children. In order to secure supplies, an anti-bottleneck law came into force in July. However, the focus now is primarily on short-term precautions.
Among other things, the manufacturers have significantly increased their production, said Lauterbach. With a view to the approaching cold season, the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices has already published an “urgent list” with a good 30 children’s preparations that should be procured with the highest priority by those involved. These include fever juices and children’s antibiotics, but also cold medicines.
The Germany boss of Ratiopharm parent Teva, Andreas Burkhardt, said after the meeting that they had doubled the production of their own fever juices. The manufacturers of off-patent medicines, so-called generics, were producing at the “technical maximum”. With a normal infection process, there is enough medication.
Five-point plan to combat delivery bottlenecks
At the same time, Burkhardt spoke of the difficult economic situation in the industry. There is no economic incentive to invest in new systems, he said. This also means that failed production facilities cannot be replaced. The margins of generic drug manufacturers are often in the cent range. In order to change this, significantly more far-reaching measures are needed, said Burkhardt.
>> Read more: Will medicines become scarce again in winter?
The increased production capacities can also be found in a five-point plan with various measures that the summit participants agreed on and which Lauterbach also presented on Thursday. Bottlenecks in auxiliary materials could therefore also be eliminated.
The paper also appeals to parents not to “hoard unnecessary supplies”. The situation can only be mastered “if reason is the order of the day,” said Lauterbach. And that means: “Please don’t panic buy.”
The action plan also contains simplified rules for pharmacies that already applied during the corona pandemic. This applies, among other things, to changing the dosage form, for example from drops to tablets. For children’s medicines, there should be no need to consult a doctor or get a new prescription. A weekly steering committee should also be set up in the ministry to monitor and react more quickly in the autumn and winter.
However, it is currently not possible to predict how severe the RSV and flu waves will be this fall and winter. The child and adolescent doctor Jörg Doetsch pointed out that it would play a decisive role whether the waves converge. This could then put a strain on practices and hospitals.
With agency material.
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