Many parents have a feeling of déjà vu: going to the pharmacies again to get fever juice? Health Minister Lauterbach warns against panic buying and is relying on a five-point plan to combat the medication shortage.
Health Minister Lauterbach’s press conference begins with a loud, shrill alarm. It’s the nationwide warning day, and many cell phones are ringing in the room. A test alarm to warn the population of possible disasters. But the alarm hasn’t reached the minister yet, he jokes. His cell phone remains silent for now. In the past few days he has dealt with completely different alarms: pharmacies, pediatricians and youth doctors have been warning loudly again for weeks. They fear that fever syrups, antibiotics and asthma medication will also be in short supply this year.
For some parents, this feels like bad déjà vu: it’s getting colder, the children are starting to have their first cold symptoms. Do you have to go through many pharmacies again to get the right medication for the second year in a row?
Lauterbach wants to calm down
The minister does not assume this. Lauterbach once again invites people to his ministry to explain that he has the situation under control. He takes on an unusual role. Instead of warning about problems and dangers, as is so often the case, this time it is the Minister of Health himself who is trying to reassure people. He will do everything to ensure that children get the medication they need. A clear appeal is at the heart of the five-point plan he presented today.
“Please don’t panic buy,” emphasizes Lauterbach again and again. A small home supply always makes sense, but please don’t hoard medicines for children, he explains to the many parents who are worried about autumn.
On this point he receives support from the pharmacy association. Having a small bottle of fever juice at home is definitely sensible and responsible. But the minister never tires of saying, don’t build up large stocks. Although the situation is so much better than all the warnings and bad news. Manufacturers would produce around the clock. It’s great how the industry has reacted. We would be in a better position than we were the year before – if there were no panic purchases and there wasn’t a big wave of illness.
Shortage of medicines for children
The Association of Pediatricians warns that although in cities there is still some good care, in rural areas parents sometimes have to drive many kilometers to get to children’s medicines. In August, the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices published a so-called urgency list with a good 30 children’s products that should be procured with the highest priority. There are several antibiotics, suppositories, but also fever-reducing and pain-relieving juices.
Lauterbach assesses the situation better. He promises that we will now use the list for urgent children’s medicines as a guide. He wants to improve the exchange of these drugs and is looking for pragmatic solutions. This means that pharmacies should also be able to offer drops instead of tablets, without consulting the respective doctor or new prescription. However, the law for this still needs to be introduced. There should also be current situation analyses, a steering committee that meets regularly, in which pediatricians, industry and pharmacists take part and always provide up-to-date advice and information about the situation. But will that be enough?
law with Long-term effect
In June, the Bundestag passed a law so that there would no longer be a shortage of medicines in Germany in the future – neither for adults nor for children. Even back then, the minister admitted that this would not solve all the problems immediately.
Manufacturers and wholesalers must now stock up. These should actually be enough for children’s medication for four weeks. The reality is different: The pharmaceutical wholesaler says that supplies for many medications that are needed in autumn and winter are rather scarce. 85 percent of these medications would only last for two weeks – and not four weeks as intended. The price rules for children’s medicines were also relaxed, and the prices were increased by up to 50 percent.
Lauterbach wants to invest more money and thus attract companies back to Europe. In the long term, the Health Minister wants to use the law to make himself less dependent on Asian countries. Most medicines are manufactured in China and India.
Also problems with adult care
It’s not just medication for children that is missing. “I think we can go into the coming winter a little better,” says Nicola Bulinger-Göpfarth from the Association of General Practitioners. However, she would like to see further solutions because there are also problems in the care of adult patients.
There are supply bottlenecks for around 500 medicines this year, warns Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek. A good year ago there were shortages of “only” 300 medications during the same period. The North Rhine Pharmacists’ Association is also sounding the alarm: 1.5 million people are affected by the delivery bottlenecks every day. Sometimes the supply of antibiotics, for example, is at risk, explained the association chairman Thomas Preis in ARD morning magazine.
Quick solutions in sight?
Lauterbach is in a quandary: On the one hand, he wants to get pharmaceutical manufacturers to produce more in Germany and Europe in order to make themselves more independent of international supply chains. On the other hand, he has to keep foreign companies happy so that they can supply Germany with sufficient medicines in the short term.
No stable supply chains
Health insurance companies also feel this dilemma. When it comes to antibiotics, they should conclude different contracts with drug manufacturers in the future than before. There should no longer just be a contract with the cheapest supplier, who often produces in China or India, but also a contract with a supplier in Europe.
From the perspective of the health insurance companies, that is not enough. A core problem is that there are no longer stable supply chains in the pharmaceutical industry. They also assume that the prices of children’s medicines will rise in the long term. But the coffers are already missing several billion. They therefore consider an increase in contributions not to be ruled out.
Despite the law passed in June and today’s five-point plan, the Federal Minister of Health is likely to receive some alarm calls in the coming months.