On the website of the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM), the lines “supply voltage” follow those that show “exhausted”. This establishment under the Ministry of Health lists the medicines of greatest therapeutic interest (MITM) that currently present supply difficulties.
On Monday, François Braun declared on RMC-BFMTV that his ministry was in the process of “finalizing”, with “all medical specialties”, a list of “essential medicines”, also called “critical”, for the month of May.
According to our information, this list is prepared jointly by the General Directorate of Health, with the ANSM and scientific medical societies.
After the establishment of this list, the authorities must “define all the manufacturing points” of these medicines, from the active principle to the packaging, explained the Minister of Health. The objective is to “control the entire production chain” and thus “ensure that these essential medicines will always be available.”
A stock obligation of at least two months for MITM
What is the difference between “critical” drugs and “drugs of great therapeutic interest”? MITMs are defined in the Public Health Code as “drugs or classes of drugs for which interruption of treatment is likely to compromise the vital prognosis of patients in the short or medium term, or represent a significant loss of opportunities for patients regarding the severity or evolutionary potential of the disease”.
From September 1, 2021, pharmaceutical companies must accumulate a safety stock of at least two months for MITM. However, as shown on the ANSM website, some MITMs are affected by stock shortages.
François Braun assured this Monday that “there is no medicine in absolute rupture”, but medicines “in tension”, with “less than a month of stock” and that “we cannot find in all pharmacies”.
“Critical” drugs would be a subcategory of MITM, with stricter criteria, the Health Ministry told BFMTV. “An analysis of the risks in terms of supply, and the necessary corrective solutions will be attached to this list,” explained a press release from the Health and Economy ministries in February.
“The management rules can range from a reminder of good use, to the constitution of shares, or even to reindustrialization,” the minister’s cabinet specifies to BFMTV.
Various causes of shortage.
The drug supply problems that France has been experiencing for several months have several causes. François Braun explained, for example, on March 1 before the National Assembly that amoxicillin has “suffered a very strong cyclical demand due to the encounter of various winter epidemics”, while this antibiotic is not effective against bronchiolitis, influenza, Covid-19. 19 or nasopharyngitis, remember the ANSM on its site.
This increase in demand was associated with “insufficient anticipation on the part of manufacturers, since the health crisis caused a drop in consumption by the population for several consecutive periods,” François Braun added at the beginning of March.
A report presented to the government by a strategic mission dedicated to this issue pointed out in 2019 the role of interruptions in the supply of active ingredients in these situations of shortage. These substances necessary for the manufacture of medicines are mainly produced outside of Europe, making France dependent on countries such as India and China.
Source: BFM TV
