For the shortage of medicines “the really real problem is on 30 medicines. We follow the question and there is an open table”. The Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, told time.news Salute at the end of his briefing on the subject in the Social Affairs Commission in the Chamber. About missing drugs “Italians can rest assured, there’s no need to stock up” Schillaci assured.
In the Social Affairs Commission of the Chamber, the minister observed that on the subject of the shortage of medicines “it must also be noted that the alarmist communication of these days is generating what is technically called ‘lack of rebound’: the hoarding of the drug by patients, worried about having a stock of a product that would appear to be ‘at risk’, reinforces the peak in demand, and creates further tensions in supply”.
“On 11 January – he recalled – I convened a permanent working table on the supply of medicines to define the real extent of the” shortages “phenomenon and indicate resolution proposals”. Table also extended “to Nas and general practitioners”. What emerges is that, the minister pointed out, “an overlapping of phenomena of a different nature (cost increases linked to the international situation, peak demand for ‘seasonal’ drugs, polarization towards a few molecules of the therapeutic choices proposed by prescribers for seasonal diseases, the tail end of the production difficulties linked to the Covid pandemic) is creating tension in the supply of some specific medicines, basically anti-inflammatory, anti-flu and antibiotics”.
Given the current situation, announced Schillaci, “in addition to supporting the communication initiatives aimed at clarifying the real situation of the shortcomings, it has already been decided to proceed, after this phase of ‘media crisis’, with a revision of the system of the shortage list of drugsalready discussed and agreed upon during the Unavailability Technical Table at the Italian Medicines Agency Aifa, with the interested parties: all drugs of non-significant importance will be removed from the main list. In this context, it will also be possible to define and promote, in agreement with the whole network, further training and information initiatives which help to increase access to the instruments already available (equivalents, galenics, importation). Looking ahead, furthermore, other structural interventions have also been proposed with respect to the issue of cost increases induced by international tension: the revaluation of drug prices below the 5 euro threshold, which are at greater risk of loss of profitability, is for example among these”.