Government urged to strengthen medicine supply chain before situation ‘becomes critical’
War in the Middle East is set to worsen shortages of painkillers and blood pressure drugs in the UK, pharmacists say.
Health industry leaders said the impact of the conflict involving Iran, the US, Israel and other countries in the Middle East would exacerbate ongoing supply issues.
So far this year, UK pharmacies have struggled to secure stocks of painkiller medication such as codeine and co-codamol, as well as antidepressants and HRT.
The Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) warned that the crisis would probably have a knock-on effect on already stressed global supply chains, delaying transport and making raw materials “harder to source”.
The UK imports most of its drugs, but even those that come from the EU or closer to home are often made from materials that are shipped from countries such as China or India.
Since the turn of the year, there have been shortages of blood pressure drugs, such as the beta blocker propanolol, which slows the heart beat to reduce blood pressure, as well as some statins and two other drugs called ramipril and irbesartan. These work in different ways to relax blood vessels and improve flow.
Aspirin has also been in short supply. It is both a painkiller and blood thinner used to prevent heart attacks.
The drug, which Donald Trump takes every day, was added to an export ban list in January by the Government.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the IPA, said: “Pharmacies up and down the country are reporting worsening medicines shortages.
“Many common medicines such as blood pressure medicines, painkillers, antidepressants and hormone replacement therapy medicines are currently in short supply.
“The ongoing conflict in the Middle East further risks shortages as pharmaceutical raw materials become harder to source, energy costs rise and transport delays mount.”
She said the Government needed to “act urgently to strengthen the resilience of the UK medicines supply system” and “before these pressures worsen and the impact on patients becomes critical”.
There have been shortages of some antidepressants used to treat depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses.
These include clomipramine, venlafaxine, fluoxetine (also known by the brand name Prozac), lofepramine and mirtazapine. Some of the shortages are specific to dosage or liquid versions.
There have also been shortages of medicines for epilepsy and diabetes.
A Government spokesperson said: “There are currently no reported medicine shortages as a result of conflict in the Middle East and it is irresponsible to speculate otherwise.
“We actively monitor emerging threats to supply resilience and have established processes in place to manage disruption across the health and social care sector.”
Credit: https://www.telegraph.co.uk
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