The most proven broad-spectrum antibiotic juices for children have been out of stock in Austria for weeks. In March they are no longer being delivered, stocks are exhausted and there are long waiting lists. The Chamber of Pharmacists called for the purchase of raw materials, so that the money could be produced in-house.
The bottleneck in the supply of certain medicines, which has been particularly acute since the autumn, has now worsened again for antibiotics for children. In 2019, about 130,000 packs of antibiotic juices for children were consumed in Austria and about 80,000 packs were sold in 2022, and more were not available. “We haven’t even managed to meet annual pre-pandemic needs,” he said Chamber of Pharmacy President Ulrike Mursch-Edlmayr.
Raw materials from abroad would help
“We know that there are currently raw materials on the market and we know exactly how much raw material we need for these products,” emphasizes Mursch-Edlmayr. The Chamber offered the Ministry of Health to prepare these products fresh in the pharmacies – in a so-called master recipe. For the purchase of raw materials abroad, the Republic must provide a purchase guarantee and secure financing, explained the president of the Chamber of Pharmacists. The domestic wholesaler could then take care of distribution to pharmacies throughout Austria. For the patients, or in this case the parents, only the prescription fee is charged for the medicines produced in the pharmacy.
“Of course we fully support that, that you buy the raw materials,” said the secretary general of the Association of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (ÖGKJ), Reinhold Kerbl. Then the funds can be safely manufactured in all pharmacies in Austria with the same prescription. There are still certain antibiotics, but the ones that have been tried and tested for decades and that cause the least resistance, “they haven’t been around for weeks,” said the pediatrician who works at the LKH Leoben – especially in the child-friendly dosages. This is “threatening and a danger to those affected”. There are also instances where children are sent long distances to hospitals for infusions because the oral antibiotic is not available.
It’s “basically all the illnesses that can be treated with antibiotics,” such as ear and pneumonia, and currently “a real wave of strep infections,” Kerbl reported. There are no penicillin drugs and others must be used that cause resistance and that “of course are also becoming scarce”. “As far as I can remember, there has never been anything like it,” said the specialist. Over the past two years, there have been fewer of these infections due to the corona measures and now the situation is “not entirely unexpectedly back to normal” or there is even an additional catch-up effect.
Ask for raw material supplies
“We clearly demand storage of raw materials in Austria,” says Mursch-Edlmayr. Then, on the one hand, antibiotic juices for children could be produced, but also medicines for adults, if needed. “The problem of supply bottlenecks will continue to accompany us and the raw materials have a long shelf life,” the president stressed in the discussion on the sidelines of the advanced training conference of the Austrian Chamber of Pharmacists in Schladming.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
