2023-12-31 15:51:00
In the coming days, if this is not already the case, on the counter of your pharmacy, you will find flyers warning of the shortage of medicines and a petition from the Union of Pharmacists of the Alpes-Maritimes FSPFF 06 that you can sign. customers.
“The goal is to inform patients, even if we very often talk regarding these recurring shortages in the media and our patients realize it when they come to the pharmacy and we do not have this or that medicationexplains Raphaël Gigliotti, co-president of FSPFF 06. But what we also want is to challenge politicians. We have launched a petition, available to be signed in all pharmacies, which we will send to the President of the Republic. The goal is to make things happen.”
The flyers and the petition are being distributed to all pharmacies in the Alpes-Maritimes, “Whether they are unionized or not, we want this to be relayed as much as possible.” A regional approach, through the Mediterranean Pharmaceutical Federation (Fedmed), which brings together all the unions in the Mediterranean “belt”. It was Hérault which launched the movement, taken up in the Alpes-Maritimes, but also in Var and Bouches-du-Rhône.
“The problem is the prices are too low”
If, for Raphaël Gigliotti, the problem is not new, it is increasingly important and comes from the price of medicines.
“We have been warning regarding these shortages for several years now. In previous years, we were told that it was the fault of Covid, supply problems… But, for us, the real problem is the price of the medicine , which is planed every year by the different PLFSS [projet de loi de financement de la Sécurité sociale, ndlr] voted in the National Assembly.”
For the co-president of sunion of pharmacists of Alpes-Maritimes, “this is still the case this year: almost 50% of the savings made in the entire health sector are on medicines, which only represents 10% of the overall budget. And, like every year, the The price of the drug reaches such low thresholds, today almost the lowest prices in Europe. This price being completely degraded, manufacturers who are in globalized circuits are losing interest in France. This is our analysis in as community pharmacists.”
And as patients are not always aware of the prices of their medicines, this is also one of the objectives of the pharmacists’ approach. “The prices are a little transparent since today they are no longer displayed. You come to collect your medicines with your Vitale card, you receive your treatment without necessarily realizing its cost.”
According to Raphaël Gigliotti, and in summary, the drugs are indeed manufactured but would not arrive on the French market. “Shortages are not felt in other European countries, such as Switzerland or Italy, at least to a lesser extent. Quite simply, because as soon as there is a manufacturing problem on the chain, which happens on a regular basis, or if there is an increase in demand, in the event of an epidemic, the one who will be least well served is the one who pays the least for medicines globally. And, very often , It’s France.”
“A loss of opportunity for patients”
At the moment in the Alpes-Maritimes, gastro is very virulent. After a notable return of Covid, the flu should appear following the holidays. “Regularly, every winter, drugs that are linked to epidemics, so antibiotics, corticosteroids, are extremely affected.”
Pharmacists are particularly concerned regarding the supply of diabetes treatment. “We have a real problem with drugs that treat diabetes, because they are in huge demand worldwide, we already know that, throughout 2024, we will not be able to initiate new treatments for people with diabetes. detected from today…”
“There are also anti-cancer drugs, others to treat endocarditis that we cannot get. It can be one-off, sometimes it will last one or two months. But that means that on the other hand, you you have patients who have no treatment and who have a real loss of luck. Today, it is not good to get sick in France…”
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