Over the next few days more than one million bottles of imported painkillers are expected in Canada to deal with the shortage that has been going on for months due to the high circulation of respiratory viruses in the country. The Federal Minister of Health, however, invites families to be “responsible”.
“The combination of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and COVID is hitting our country hard,” said Dr.ref. Supriya Sharma, senior medical advisor for Health Canada, during a press conference on the topic on Friday.
Currently, manufacturers of acetaminophen and ibuprofen, substances sold under the brand names Advil, Motrin, Tylenol and Tempra, for example, are struggling to meet demand, although they have doubled their production, according to health authorities.
Health Canada then looked overseas to fill the gap. “We have now received and approved three import proposals for foreign products and supplies have started to enter the country,” said the Dref. Sharma.
These foreign products include ibuprofen for children and liquid acetaminophen for children and infants, he said. They will be used to supply hospitals, pharmacies and retailers. “The drugs will start appearing on store shelves from early next week,” said Dr.ref. Sharma.
Be patient, cautions Duclos
Asked on the subject on Friday, on the sidelines of a public event, the federal minister of health and deputy for Quebec, Jean-Yves Duclos, meanwhile warned that the problem will continue for several weeks. “Yesterday I met all the partners again: suppliers, distributors, importers, pharmacist associations, hospitals, paediatricians. We told ourselves very clearly that this shortage problem would not disappear immediately, that it would last for several weeks,” he said.
“It was announced earlier this week that an emergency delivery of painkillers for children began this week and will continue into the next week. This represents several months of usual demand. […] Pharmacy stocks are expected to be replenished in the next 2-3 weeks, ”the minister continued.
However, he urged parents not to stockpile these drugs when they become available again. “While it will help alleviate the shortage, as a family, we also have a role to play. Knowing that there will be several weeks, we don’t have to go and get ten from the pharmacy to deprive other families of these painkillers,” insisted Mr. Duclos.
The latter also encourages Canadians to continue wearing a mask in crowded enclosed spaces, but above all to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and the flu. Earlier this week, on Monday, Minister Duclos acknowledged that demand for pediatric medicines had been “exceptionally high during the summer and autumn, and continues to increase” because “respiratory viruses have a major impact on our children, especially on younger children”.
First signs since April
Remember that Canada has been struggling with a paracetamol and ibuprofen shortage for months. Health Canada saw the first signs of it as early as April in some provinces, including Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador. Steps were then taken with the producers to increase production.
Ultimately, however, domestic supply proved insufficient to meet demand, which remained high at the end of the summer, according to health authorities.
Canada’s Deputy Chief Public Health Officer, Dr.r Howard Njoo, explained on Friday that transmission of RSV and flu, both of which can seriously affect children, “is above the level expected for this time of year” as COVID-19 continues to circulate.
“A number of children’s hospitals across the country have reported unprecedented numbers of emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to respiratory viruses,” he said at the news conference. This is the case in particular of the Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH), which has resigned itself to placing up to two patients per room in intensive care, an “unprecedented” situation for the institution and judged “very worrying” by Minister Duclos. “We have to protect these little children,” he said.
For now, health authorities are recommending parents to have their children six months of age and older vaccinated against the flu and to apply other measures to prevent the transmission of respiratory viruses, such as wearing a mask and reminder doses against COVID -19. There is no vaccine against RSV. The Dref. Sharma also confirmed that the French labeling has nothing to do with the current drug shortage, contrary to what is claimed by a major English-language media outlet.
With the Canadian press
