EU plans changes to pharmaceuticals law to avoid medicine shortages
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[January 18, 2023]
By Maggie Fick
(Reuters) -Proposed changes to a European Union pharmaceuticals law will
include stronger obligations for the supply of medicines and earlier
notifications of shortages, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides
said on Tuesday.
Kyriakides told a session of the European Parliament that shortages of
antibiotics are a growing problem for many European countries. She said
the European Commission's proposal to revise the pharmaceuticals
legislation is planned for March.
"Our objective is and remains to secure access to medicines for all
patients in need and to avoid any market disruption of medicines in the
EU," Kyriakides said.
Shortages of antibiotics have been reported in 26 European countries,
the European Medicines Agency says.
The unseasonably early upsurge in respiratory infections in Europe this
winter and insufficient production capacity are the root causes of the
shortages, Kyriakides said.
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European Commissioner for Health and
Food Safety Stella Kyriakides speaks during a news conference on the
proposal by the European Commission of two laws to cut the
environmental impact of pesticides and set aside land for nature
restoration, in Brussels, Belgium June 22, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Numerous EU lawmakers speaking at
the session said the shortages needed to be tackled urgently. But
experts say shortages of essential generic medicines like
antibiotics are likely to be recurrent in Europe due to problems in
the sector such as the gradual migration of generic manufacturing to
Asia.
Kyriakides said the EU is deploying all regulatory options and
talking to companies to increase production and mitigate shortages.
She added that the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response
Authority (HERA), the EU health crisis body established during the
COVID-19 pandemic, could procure medicines and medical supplies on
behalf of member states to address shortages.
(Reporting by Maggie FickEditing by Jon Boyle, David Goodman and
Paul Simao)
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