As a chronic medicine shortage is being experienced globally, the situation in Malta is largely under control as it is mostly prevalent in the private sector, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Wednesday. 

Speaking during the announcement that the HPV vaccine is available for boys aged 12, Fearne also provided an update on the situation of medicine shortages, saying that the government had put a number of mitigation measures in place to address the shortage. 

He said that locally there are two sectors that import medication: the government which imports medicine included in its formulary and the private sector, which imports medication found in pharmacies. 

“Right now we are seeing that the shortage is more prevalent in the private sector, but as a government, we are doing our part to support the private sector and those importers,” he said. 

In a Times of Malta interview, the head of the Central Procurement and Supplies Unit explained that the global medicine shortage is estimated to last another six months in Malta. Despite this, there is “no cause for alarm”.

Shortages have been blamed on global supply chain problems, with a lack of available Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) from China and India seen as a key issue.

“This is a worldwide issue, as this is the first winter where COVID restrictions are lifted and people have developed flu symptoms at a time when suppliers are still adjusting to the high demand,” he said.

Fearne said that out of the 2,000 or so medicines that the government imports for the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme, only a few items have been out of stock. He added that they have only been out of stock for a few days. 

“As of today, some syrups and antibiotics which we saw a shortage of are now available in pharmacies,” he added. 

Fearne said the shortage is not a budgetary issue and added that the government spent €64 million on medicines last year and that this year the budget is €230 million.