Belgium is proposing measures to strengthen the EU's independence of medicine production following the recent drug shortages faced by some Member States.
Already before the pandemic, Belgium was experiencing a shortage of medicines, resulting in the Pharmacy Association raising the alarm and calling for an EU-wide approach to solve the problem. More than four years later, some 1,200 medicines are in shortage, leading to a new law being introduced at the start of this year to ban the export of medicines in the event of shortages.
Belgium has now proposed that EU countries increase solidarity and start exchanging medicines on a voluntary basis, Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke announced on Radio 1 on Wednesday. In doing so, countries with crucial shortages would be able to count on the solidarity of countries that do still have an extensive supply.
"It is our responsibility to guarantee that people’s treatment with sometimes life-saving drugs is not interrupted. That is why we are taking action at the European level so that we can act more quickly if a shortage of medicine is imminent,” Vandenbroucke said.
Reducing dependencies and better monitoring
A second point in the so-called "non-paper", or discussion text, implores for a reduction of "risky" dependencies on countries outside the EU, with Vandenbroucke explaining that the EU is "too dependent on China and India for medicine or on a handful of large pharmaceutical producers."
“We want the EU to ensure that enough essential raw materials for those medicines to be produced here,” he said.
Finally, there are calls for work to be done on a European list of crucial medicines, mainly medicines that have repeatedly been in short supply in recent years. The supply of those drugs should be better monitored so that shortages can be avoided in the future, the paper argues.
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As many countries have been suffering from shortages recently, from a lack of insulin to antibiotics, the proposal has been supported by 18 other EU Member States, including Germany and France.
Vandenbroucke will travel to Sweden on Wednesday to take part in the informal Health Council (EPSCO), where the shortages will be discussed.
