Warning that turmoil in the Middle East threatens the supply of medicines, with aspirin and a range of antibiotics relying on “petroleum-based ingredients”.
Pharmacists want the Labour Government to respond to an action plan to avert a crisis (Image: Getty)
Pharmacists have warned Britain faces a medicines crisis as turmoil in the Middle East cuts off ingredients and forces up prices, but Labour has failed to act. Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association, has twice written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting but says there has been no response to the warnings and “no action”.
She said: “It is now nearly two months since I wrote to Wes Streeting setting out an urgent five-point plan to tackle medicine supply storage before the impact of the Middle East conflict hit British patients. Two months on, and the impact of the conflict is now being felt in pharmacies up and down the country. More and more medicines are becoming difficult for pharmacists to source, and costs are rising.”
Ms Hannbeck, who wants the supply of medicines treated as a “national priority”, warned pharmacists faced a “double whammy”.
She said: “The hike in shipping prices means imports are being diverted to countries that pay more than the NHS. And manufacturers are reporting alarming difficulties in sourcing vital raw pharmaceutical ingredients and solvents, most of which are dependent on petroleum. And yet we have had no action and no communications from ministers and no treating medicine supply as a national priority that patients have the right to expect.”
Insisting there is still time to act, she said: “It isn’t too late, but there isn’t a moment to be lost. The Government must act, and act now. A failure to step in and get a grip on this growing problem would be a failure of leadership. Patients deserve action now.”
In her letter to the Health Secretary, she warned that drugs including aspirin and a range of antibiotics “rely on petroleum-based ingredients as well as other raw materials sourced from the Middle East and beyond”.
She said that before the Iran crisis, “several key medicines were already difficult to obtain – including common blood pressure medicines, and treatments for the management of chronic pain”.
Shadow Health Secretary Stuart Andrew also sounded the alert, saying: “Pharmacists warned Wes Streeting nearly two months ago that medicine supplies were under pressure, yet the Government still appears to be asleep at the wheel. Families need reassurance that vital medicines will be available when they are needed. Labour must treat medicine supply as a national priority, grip this crisis now, and set out what they are doing to protect patients.”
Leyla Hannbeck of the Independent Pharmacies Association has seen ‘no action’ (Image: -)
Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson insists that of the approximately 14,000 medicines licensed, the “overwhelming majority” are in “good supply”.
She said: “The vast majority of the UK’s medicines are in good supply – we have seen very limited disruption to date as a result of the conflict. We have established processes to respond to sudden market price increases of medicines. This includes adjusting reimbursement prices based on current market conditions, which helps ensure that pharmacies can continue to obtain medicines for their patients.”