Medicine shortage to end soon in France, says official

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – The shortage of medicines in France will end soon, a senior French official said Friday.

"We see the end of it," French Minister Delegate for Industry Roland Lescure told French broadcaster RTL.

Toward the end of last year, France started suffering from a shortage of medicines amid a triple epidemic of coronavirus, flu, and bronchiolitis. Patients struggled to find paracetamol and children’s antibiotics (amoxicillin) in pharmacies due to supply issues.

The French government accused the pharmaceutical companies of not accurately forecasting the possible demand for winter.

As the rest of his colleagues explained previously, Lescure said that the strain is due to "bad planning by the pharmaceutical industry."

"In 2022, the consumption level exploded and the companies were not ready for it," the minister added, and thanked the companies for their efforts – Upsa and GSK in particular.

"Upsa told me that it will dispatch a million doses of pediatric paracetamol to France and GSK, the primary producer of amoxicillin, said it will reserve a million doses for France in the coming weeks, which means a stock of one month," Lescure continued. "It will be done in two weeks."

The minister called "unacceptable" the current situation, and added: "It is alright for this year, but we will adopt a roadmap to prevent it."