the drugs are starting to fail

Medicines (generic) – Photo by Ansa Foto

The international crisis also affects the health system: there is a shortage of medicines in pharmacies. More than 3,000 would be absent from the call, according to the latest data provided by Aifa. We are talking both about shortcomings and unavailability.

One of the causes is the lack of raw materials to produce bottles and caps (aluminum, glass, plastic for packaging), but also the lack and the price of the fuel necessary for transport and refueling. “There are several overlapping issues,” Federfarma national president Marco Cossolo told Rai News.

Some drugs that have been overused during the pandemic

Another cause, the main one, he explains, was the Covid: “For certain categories of drugs there was overconsumption, especially in the first phase of the treatment of Covid-19, as for paracetamol”.

The lowest prices in Italy

Another aspect is “the misalignment of the price of medicines in Italy compared to other countries (our national health system allows us to buy medicines at a lower price than in other countries) which could have caused problems supply”.

What drugs are missing, but you can still buy a generic

The call lacks “paracetamol, antidepressants, antibiotics. The attention is high due to the lack of ibuprofen, especially that of 600 and 800 and supply problems for the syrup version”, adds Cossolo who adds: “In most cases, you can always buy a generic “.

How pharmacies were activated

“The pharmacies were immediately activated and responded promptly to make up for the lack of medicines,” the president of Federfarma told Rai News. “They contributed with galenic preparations, as in the case of ibuprofen for pediatric use, prepared by the pharmacist and purchased by citizens without the need for a sleeve prescription. Galenics is asserting itself as a fundamental activity of the pharmacist so as not to cause patients to miss the medicines they need”.