European Pediatricians Warn of Shortage of Medicines for Children

Pediatricians from different European countries have warned of the shortage of medicines for children, in an open letter addressed to their Ministers of Health, a copy of which AFP obtained on Saturday.

In this letter co-signed in particular by Andréas Werner, president of the French Association of Ambulatory Pediatrics (AFPA), and Thomas Fischbach (BVKJ, its German equivalent), the doctors affirm that “the health of our children and our young people is in danger due to the lack of medicines throughout Europe”.

“No future”

“It is urgent to find a rapid, reliable and lasting solution”, they write, in this letter addressed to the Ministers of Health of Germany, France, South Tyrol (Italy), Austria and Switzerland.

“We consider it the responsibility of policymakers to ensure sufficient production and supply to build up stocks of important medicines for basic pediatric care in Europe,” they write, according to the German version of this translated missive. by AFP, the French version not being available until Tuesday, according to Dr. Werner.

In particular, they stress the need for antibiotics, painkillers, medicines for fever and asthma, as well as vaccines. “Without healthy children and young people, our society has no future! “, They conclude their letter, also signed by the president of the European Confederation of Pediatricians (ECPCP), Laura Reali.

Tensions in Germany and France

The German Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, reacted on Saturday on Twitter to this letter, unveiled by the German newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, considering that the concern of pediatricians was “justified”. He recalled that a law on delivery problems adopted by the German government in early April is currently being considered by the German parliament.

In France, in recent months, tensions have weighed on the stocks of several drugs. This winter, several antibiotics, including amoxicillin, widely prescribed to children, were thus out of stock.

In early February, the Minister of Health announced a plan to prevent any future crisis. In particular, the government announced that it was going to authorize price increases for certain essential generics, in order to encourage manufacturers to continue their production.