The National Economic Supply classifies the situation in the supply of essential medicines as problematic since January 2023. Supply disruptions are increasingly affecting the outpatient sector, rather than hospitals as in recent years. A series of short-, medium- and long-term measures are intended to defuse the situation.
The fact that the supply situation for pharmaceuticals in Switzerland has been deteriorating for several years is shown by the statistics of the National Economic Supply Reporting Office (NESO). In the context of the corona crisis, the situation has worsened, which according to WL is mainly due to the following factors: the global shortage of antibiotics has been massively exacerbated by Covid-19 and the production bottlenecks for active ingredients caused by lockdowns, especially in China. This global problem and the current strong and prolonged wave of infections mean that demand in Switzerland can no longer be fully met by supply.
| Supply situation remains tense Numerous active ingredients are produced in Asia (primarily in China or India), mostly for cost reasons. The restrictive lockdowns in China during the Corona pandemic have disrupted production and logistics chains. In addition, there is a lack of generic products on the market. The international economic development leads to a concentration on a few producers, whereby a dependency relationship develops. The supply situation for some essential medicines remains tight. The Federal Council has already described these challenges in its 2022 supply report and has put more than a dozen measures under consideration on how to improve the supply of essential medicines. |
Release of compulsory stocks
Supply disruptions are increasingly affecting pharmacies or doctors’ offices, rather than just hospitals as in recent years. The outpatient sector is much more difficult to control by measures of national economic supply than the hospital sector: First, more service providers are affected and second, the distribution channels (distribution via wholesalers) cannot be controlled by the regulatory authorities. The latter are required to report shortages of essential medicines to the hotline. In 2022, the number of reports on the remedy platform increased by about 9% compared to 2019, this after a decrease during the two Covid years. Mandatory stockpiling was requested over 150 times in 2022. This represents a new all-time high. In about 120 cases, the market was then supplied with goods from the compulsory warehouses. The increasing number of market withdrawals also makes it more difficult to replace affected drugs. Increasingly, products with a monopoly character are affected. Against this background, the National Economic Supply has so far already assessed the supply situation for pharmaceuticals as “under severe pressure” and has already released compulsory stocks.
| “Taskforce Bottleneck Drugs” The task force, which was set up as a coordination body, is made up of business, the federal government and the cantons. Its task was to decide on and implement measures that could be implemented quickly and had immediate effect, and to define and coordinate further medium- and long-term options. One important immediate measure implemented was the recommendation that partial quantities be dispensed in the case of drugs with supply shortages. This measure is expected to reduce shortages of essential medicines and stabilize supplies of other medicines. The short-term measures for which the task force was formed have been completed (as of 08.08.2023). The task force can be reactivated at any time, for example in the event of renewed acute problems with vital medications. |
Delivery of partial quantities recommended
The reporting office set up in the summer of 2015 at the Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES) enables rapid recording of supply disruptions for reportable, essential human medicines and vaccines in the sense of an early warning system, in that players in the healthcare sector must report supply bottlenecks at an early stage. The immediate, medium-term and long-term measures to improve the supply of medicines planned by the “Medicines Bottleneck Task Force”, some of which have already been implemented, are being evaluated by the BWL in cooperation with the FOPH. In particular, the aim is to detect disruptions earlier and more broadly, to make it easier to deal with them, and to improve market conditions overall.
Sources:
- «Arzneimittel: Aktuelle Lage», Bundesamt für wirtschaftliche Landesversorgung, www.bwl.admin.ch/bwl/de/home/themen/heilmittel/arzneimittel-aktuelle-lage.html, (last accessed 08.08.2023)
- «Aufgaben der «Taskforce Engpass Medikamente» werden in die bestehenden Strukturen überführt», Bern, 06.04.2023. www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-94170.html (last accessed 08.08.2023).
HAUSARZT PRAXIS 2023, 18(8): 40
