Sánchez Diana Ivonne Rodríguez, Vogler Sabine
Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University, 31-126 Krakow, Poland.
WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Policies, Pharmacoeconomics Department, Gesundheit Österreich (GÖG/Austrian National Public Health Institute), 1010 Vienna, Austria.
Pharmacy (Basel). 2023 Jul 21;11(4):120. doi: 10.3390/pharmacy11040120.
The study aimed to investigate medicine shortages of critical relevance in the pandemic. A total of 487 active substances for the treatment of COVID-19-related symptoms and therapeutically similar medicines were reviewed as to whether or not a shortage had been notified in Austria, Italy, and Spain for February 2020, March 2020, April 2020 (first wave of the pandemic), and, in comparison, in November 2021 (fourth wave). Publicly accessible shortage registers managed by the national regulatory authorities were consulted. For 48 active substances, a shortage was notified for at least one of the study months, mostly March and April 2020. Out of these 48 active substances, 30 had been explicitly recommended as COVID-19 therapy options. A total of 71% of the active substances with notified shortage concerned medicines labeled as essential by the World Health Organization. During the first wave, Spain and Italy had higher numbers of shortage notifications for the product sample, in terms of active substances as well as medicine presentations, than Austria. In November 2021, the number of shortage notifications for the studied substances reached lower levels in Austria and Spain. The study showed an increase in shortage notifications for COVID-19-relevant medicines in the first months of the pandemic.
该研究旨在调查大流行期间至关重要的药品短缺情况。对总共487种用于治疗新冠病毒相关症状的活性物质以及治疗作用相似的药物进行了审查，以确定在奥地利、意大利和西班牙，2020年2月、2020年3月、2020年4月（疫情第一波）以及作为对比的2021年11月（第四波）是否有短缺通报。查阅了由国家监管机构管理的公开短缺登记册。在研究的几个月中，至少有一个月通报了48种活性物质短缺，大部分是在2020年3月和4月。在这48种活性物质中，有30种被明确推荐为新冠病毒治疗选择。通报短缺的活性物质中，共有71%涉及世界卫生组织列为基本药物的药品。在第一波疫情期间，就活性物质以及药品剂型而言，西班牙和意大利的产品样本短缺通报数量高于奥地利。2021年11月，奥地利和西班牙所研究物质的短缺通报数量降至较低水平。该研究表明，在疫情的头几个月，与新冠病毒相关药品的短缺通报有所增加。
