Crisis camp to combat medication shortages in winter

For the delivery of particularly cheap medicines, the wholesaler also receives a contribution of 0.28 euros per pack from the federal government. The warehouse includes the necessary ingredients for common antibiotics and medicines for cold symptoms. In periods of high demand, these can be accessed from pharmacies to produce extemporaneous preparations. “In the event of a delivery failure, the active ingredients are distributed to pharmacies from 23 locations throughout Austria so that the population, but especially sick children, can be cared for,” explained Andreas Windischbauer, President of the Association of Austrian Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (PHAGO).

Exchange within the EU

In addition, the EU Commission has presented a mechanism for exchanging medicines between member states. “With this package of measures, we are best equipped to deal with bottlenecks,” said Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) on Thursday. “The ongoing shortage of medication has many causes that can only really be solved in the long term.”

The originally planned increase in medication stocks turned out to be “not practical” for this winter: “Ordering medication sometimes has long lead times. In addition, national warehouses have exacerbated the Europe-wide shortage,” emphasized the department head. Instead, the European solidarity mechanism will “help to secure the supply of medicines if necessary”.

Contribution for the pharmaceutical wholesaler

In addition to the crisis camp, a so-called infrastructure security contribution for medicines with a price of less than 3.93 euros was agreed. The federal government will thus reimburse pharmaceutical wholesalers for part of the additional costs that have arisen in recent years. A corresponding law is to be submitted to parliament and will apply retroactively from September 1, 2023. The cost estimates are 23 million euros.

The Chamber of Pharmacists welcomed the raw material stocks with important medicines. “This gives pharmacists a useful tool to efficiently counteract certain medication supply bottlenecks,” says President Ulrike Mursch-Edlmayr. Now it is the turn of the social insurance to implement the inflation-compliant adjustment of production costs that was promised to the pharmacists.

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