Austria steps up action to prevent critical drug shortages this winter

10 months ago 42

The Austrian government is cooperating with wholesalers to stockpile medicines and subsidise the sale of cheap drugs to avoid another ‘unacceptable’ winter of shortages.

With at least 582 types of medicine still unavailable ahead of the impending flu season, Austria is keen to avoid the kind of drug shortage the EU faced in the winter of 2021-2022, which Austrian Health Minister Johannes Rauch then described as “unacceptable”.

To cover potential shortages, Vienna is launching 23 stockpiles to supply the “right” drugs in cooperation with the wholesaler’s association PHAGO, Rauch told radio channel Ö1.

The “right” drugs Rausch is referring to covers 10 critical drug types, including the typical pain medications Ibuprofen and Paracetamol alongside select antibiotics, which had already been subject to “shortages last winter”, said PHAGO’s Thomas Brosch.

While stockpile orders are set to come in the following weeks, pharmacies will also get compensation for reducing prices.

For a €23 million price tag, the government will compensate sellers with a €0.28 subsidy for any units sold for less than €3.93.

The measure was welcomed by pharmacies, with Pharmacy Association President Ulrike Mursch-Edlmayr saying, “This gives pharmacists a useful tool to efficiently counteract certain supply bottlenecks for medicines.”

However, the industry was far from satisfied.

The measure is a “drop in the ocean”, said the CEO of the chemical industry association FCIO, Sylvia Hofingern, with her association calling for increased domestic production at higher prices.

Meanwhile, Brussels has been pushing for further European cooperation to prevent shortages. A voluntary scheme was launched in late October, and from 2024, the EU wants to ensure stockpiling is done in the most efficient manner possible.

This would be the way forward for the bloc, the Austrian health minister noted.

(Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | Euractiv.de)