Debate: Surge of respiratory infections and the shortage of medication in Europe
Date: TUESDAY, 17 JANUARY 2023
Speaker: Stella Kyriakides
Language: EN

We are now three years after the COVID—19 pandemic and of course the COVID virus is still circulating within Europe. And I wanted to share with you that we are closely monitoring the situation in China, and of course in the United States, where a new Omicron subvariant has appeared. And with the circulation of COVID and the impact of other respiratory viruses, we are facing a very challenging situation. The lockdown measures that have been in place because of COVID for almost three years have made people understandably less exposed to respiratory viruses. And when we say this, it actually means that children that were born since the pandemic may have never encountered the influenza virus, for example. Member States have already reported high transmission rates in all population groups, but also that the season for the respiratory viruses has started earlier than usual. And this is putting huge pressure on already pressed health systems and workers. It may be triggering further staff shortages due to sick leave. And of course we can also possibly see stress—related anxiety and burnout as we saw in healthcare staff during the pandemic. I’m saying this because maintaining an adequate ratio between the staff and the patients in ICUs and paediatric wards is critical for patient safety and quality of care. Also, vaccination against respiratory viruses remains our best tool, our shield to protect citizens. In areas with high circulation of respiratory viruses, healthcare facilities should consider making face masks a requirement for healthcare workers and visitors in healthcare facilities. So in the coming months, reinforcing our healthcare systems is a priority and also strengthening our healthcare force workforce. Now, alongside this, we are also witnessing a shortage of medicines in some Member States, and particularly antibiotics and paediatric analgesics. As this is a global issue we are in close contact with our international counterparts, while also supporting Member States and industry. The systems and processes which we established during the pandemic and through the extended mandate – which was supported by this Parliament – of the European Medicines Agency, are helping us to better manage the situation. We have already had discussions with industry and the main root causes which have been identified are the sharp increase in demand because of more respiratory infections, along with insufficient production capacity. As these products are authorised at national level, the Member States’ competent authorities are already putting mitigation measures in place. And, together with the European Medicines Agency, we are doing our very best to support but also to coordinate Member States and industry facing this challenge. We are doing this by deploying all the flexibility that the regulatory framework allows us to use in seeking ways with our industrial partners to rapidly increase production and to prevent and mitigate shortages. And if needed, HERA can step in and coordinate on behalf of the Member States the joint procurement of medical countermeasures, as we did during COVID, and also organised matchmaking events between industry actors in order to help increase production. Honourable Members, I have often said from this podium that patients in the EU and across the EU, no matter where they live, must always have access to the medicines they need at affordable prices. And this is why, as has been mentioned before, we have the ambition to achieve this with a new pharmaceutical strategy for Europe. We will be proposing both non—legislative and legislative measures for better access and greater security of supplies for medicines in the EU. The proposal to revise the pharmaceutical legislation is a programme for March, and will be including stronger obligations for supply, earlier notifications of shortages and withdrawals, and enhanced transparency of stocks. Other non-legislative measures are being taken to keep the medicine supplies for the EU citizens and patients going. So our objective remains to secure access to medicines for all patients in need and to avoid disruption of medicines in the EU. I look forward to hearing your interventions on this very important topic today.