Dutch medicine shortage gets even worse

We researched the European medicine shortage late last year and predicted that shortages will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. New data published this week on the Dutch medicine shortage confirmed our fears. Unfortunately, Dutch drug shortages increased by 51% in 2023 compared to 2022. In 2023, there were 2,292 instances where patients could not get the medicine they required, up from 1,514 in 2022.

Many European governments are currently reflecting on their dependencies in a changing world. These discussions on 'strategic autonomy' technology and many other things are actively being discussed. However, most (generic) medicine is produced overseas, mainly in India and China. With shortages continuing to rise and with ageing populations, medicines should be at the forefront of these discussions.

Solutions, like bringing, notably, generic medicine production back to Europe, are possible but costly. Yet, policymakers can ill afford to wait and need to make decisions, not least on funding. Otherwise, medicine shortages in Europe will likely keep increasing.

We've written more extensively on Europe's medicine shortage and the potential solutions here.