Medicine shortages have worsened further in 2023, with 30.9% shortages reported, according to the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM). To try to stem the phenomenon, beyond the measures already taken in recent months, the government is presenting its 2024-2027 roadmap against drug shortages this Wednesday, February 21, in Le Parisien.
Amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, paracetamol, morphine… A list of 450 drugs qualified as “essential” had already been established by the government in June. The new executive plan plans to “strengthen monitoring of their availability”. From 2025, this list will be updated every year, assures the Minister of Labor and Health Catherine Vautrin, who recognizes that there “may be holes in the racket but also medicines which should not necessarily be there” .
A plan to relocalize the production of these essential medicines was announced by Emmanuel Macron in June, with priority for those for whom “our dependence on extra-European imports is proven”. New production lines should be announced “in the coming months,” the executive said today. “When necessary, we can also play on the price of the drug to make its production viable on national soil,” say those close to the Minister of Industry Roland Lescure.
The government also wants to avoid departures: manufacturers will have “the obligation to look for a buyer” if they wish to stop their production in the territory, explains Roland Lescure’s office. “As a last resort, if there is no buyer, there will be a public operator” for the production of the medicine concerned.
The new roadmap plans to give doctors access to data on drug shortages. A pilot phase with an update of the first prescription assistance software must be launched at the end of the first quarter of 2024.
These indications should further encourage doctors not to prescribe those that are lacking and instead offer alternatives. The ANSM and the High Authority for Health (HAS) will establish lists of equivalents for doctors and pharmacies.
Limiting shortages will also involve reducing waste, believes the executive. Catherine Vautrin says she is ready to “work on the packaging” of drugs. “There are a lot of medications whose packaging does not correspond to the dosage,” specifies the Director General of Health, Grégory Emery. For example, a medication that would be packaged in five tablets when it is usually prescribed for a week, at the rate of one tablet per day, would thus be packaged in boxes of seven.
The legal framework already provides for this lever, “the minister now wants us to activate it,” explains Grégory Emery. A solution which, however, requires European coordination, as the drugs are not placed on the market only in France.
When a shortage occurs despite these precautions, the executive wants it to be identified as early as possible by detecting warning signals to deal with it. This solution will be based on more precise data management and taking into account seasonality to anticipate without waiting for the report by a pharmacy.
The government also wants pharmacists to limit their orders without intermediaries and to go, in at least 80% of cases, through wholesalers, to simplify stock management. On this point, the Minister of Health promises checks.
The roadmap provides that patients can have easy access to information on the availability of their medicine in the event of a shortage, rather than going from pharmacy to pharmacy hoping to find it. Communication aimed at the general public on the “proper use” of medicines – reminding people that they should avoid taking them without a prescription – will also be amplified.
