“It’s going to be complicated next winter, we’re still going to have drug shortages,” says François Braun

2023-06-14 11:52:20

The Minister of Health wants to “be very clear” this Wednesday about future drug stock shortages in France, the day after the announcements of the relocation plan for the pharmaceutical industry.

«We will still have shortages. We must be very clear: there will be risks of stock shortages (of drugs)“, warns this Wednesday morning on RTL the Minister of Health, François Braun, the day after Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that around fifty drugs judged “critiqueswould see their production lines repatriated to France. “It will still be complicated next winter but believe me that I am fully mobilized on this“, he continues, assuring that he wants, when the situation is”a little tense“, to have “less inventory» available, on the condition that «the French can always find the medicines they need».

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Follow “closely the production lines”

For the Minister, it is above all a question ofidentify a list of essential medicines“, those “with which we can have a health system that functions normally“. Among them are “of course which are essential and quite rare to use, others very common such as paracetamol for example“, he explains, wishing “follow the production lines very closely from the factory to the pharmacy to ensure that there are no breaks» et «ensure that these drugs are available to French people».

The Minister of Health refers to “production problems“, of the “seasonal issues“, while some drugs”are used more in winter». «It is necessary to vary these stocks according to the needs“, emphasizes François Braun, who promises that”industrialists are particularly mobilized“. And to answer the problem, he quotes “the desire of the President of the Republic to relocate this production chain to France” and this, in particular for “drugs for which there is significant criticality“. And to affirm that it is an obligationfor patients but also for our industrial sovereignty».

Fears already raised by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, on the sidelines of a trip to Ardèche to the site of the pharmaceutical laboratory Aguettant, in order to announce the relocation of the production of 25 drugs deemed essential “in the next weeks“. The Head of State notably cited morphine, pediatric amoxicillin and six anti-cancer drugs. These relocations will cover the entire drug production chain, including “ often the active ingredient “, he welcomed.

A total of eight projects are officially to be implemented, supported by some 160 million euros in public and private investment, to tackle the recent shortages. France has madethe experience of addiction” through the Covid and the war in Ukraine, recalled the Head of State, according to whom “delegating to others the task of producing essential medicines in a world that is fragmenting is a dead end“. Taking ‘collectively aware of this industrial dependence”, the Head of State judged that this was not “never good in general and even less understandable and acceptable (…) when it affects health».