Medicine shortages are an “increasing problem” for Australia and antibiotics are among the commonly prescribed drugs currently in short supply, the peak body for general practitioners says.
The drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), on Monday said the three most commonly prescribed antibiotics – amoxicillin, cefalexin and metronidazole – are scarce. They are used to treat a range of bacterial infections, including pneumonia and other chest infections, skin infections and urinary tract infections.
To see patients through the shortage, the TGA has authorised pharmacists to provide alternative antibiotics without approval from the prescribing doctor.
“Importantly, many of these medicines have alternatives available,” the TGA said. “Your pharmacist may be able to give you a different brand, or your doctor can prescribe a different strength or medicine with similar spectrum of activity.”
A TGA spokesperson said “most of the antibiotic shortages are caused by manufacturing issues or an unexpected increase in demand”.
“Supply is expected to return to normal levels within the next three months, with some medicines returning much sooner,” he said.
Dr Nicole Higgins, the president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, said the shortage of certain medicines was “becoming an increasing problem in Australia”.
“It’s really been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected international supply chains,” she said. “And the shortage of antibiotics appears to be a global supply and manufacturing issue, but it is unclear exactly why demand has increased.”
She said GPs often have good relationships with pharmacies in their local area and will work with them to help get medicines their patient needs if they are struggling to find it.
“We can also sometimes find a substitute for a certain medicine, but medicines are not easily substituted between each other,” Higgins said. “We need to fix this problem with a long-term solution because when people go without medicines they need it can adversely affect their health and wellbeing.”
Dr Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician, agreed long-term solutions were needed. Most drugs are now manufactured in India and China, he said, and a lack of diversity in this supply meant that when production issues occur there aren’t many manufacturers that can step in to fill the gap.
Quickly sourcing the drugs from other countries with similar quality control standards is also difficult because of regulatory requirements, he added, but supply is stretched worldwide. The UK and US are also experiencing increased demand for antibiotics, being driven in the former by a rise in strep A infections.
Pharmaceutical companies have a monopoly in supplying certain drugs to Australia, and Collignon said if there is a shortage there is a lengthy approvals process to get similar products from other suppliers.
“This whole situation is unsatisfactory,” he said. “Of course you need to have a process to ensure you are supplying quality, regulated drugs . But in a shortage situation, we need to make it easier to get drugs in from other well developed, regulated markets like the US, England, and Germany.”
