2024-01-28 15:21:25
A tense year. In 2023, the difficulties in supplying medicines have further worsened in France, reveals the annual report of the Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM), published Friday.
In total, 4,925 reports of stock shortages or risks of stock shortages were recorded over twelve months. This is 30.9% more than the 3,761 reports recorded the previous year. Above all, this is a 128% increase compared to the 2,160 reports received in 2021. And the recurring problem is far from being a French specificity.
There are multiple causes behind this situation. The ANSM thus lists “difficulties occurring during the manufacturing of raw materials or finished products” or even “insufficient production capacity”. Added to this is the increasing need for medicines once morest a backdrop of aging populations.
Start of improvement
All classes of drugs are affected. But “cardiovascular drugs, nervous system drugs, anti-infectives and anti-cancer drugs are more particularly represented,” specifies the ANSM. And the situation has several times been critical: 40% of reports required measures to guarantee coverage of patients’ needs. The use of quantitative but also qualitative quotas was thus popular, as was the importation of similar medicines from other countries.
Faced with this situation, all medicine players signed a charter of good practices in the fall to share their data on the availability of medicines. In December, while the situation “continued to deteriorate in pharmacies”, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products had also asked manufacturers to release their stocks. And this strategy seems to be bearing its first fruits.
Concerning the most common antibiotic, amoxicillin, the ANSM has noted “for several weeks […] a gradual improvement in the supply of pharmacies”. The indicators on the availability of several forms of Amoxicillin in pharmacies were also green on the ANSM website. The flow was slightly tighter on the pediatric forms, in orange. In December, the lights were red.
A situation that remains delicate
However, the situation remains fragile. “The involvement of all players in the medicines chain must continue to ensure patients have access to their treatments,” notes the ANSM. In addition, supplies should be anticipated now to ensure needs are covered at the end of this season. »
For other antibiotics, however, the situation has become more fragile. This is the case, for example, of “azithromycin and pediatric cefpodoxime”, respectively used to treat throat infections and in various ENT infections. Manufacturers were therefore asked to release their stocks.
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