Canada has turned to foreign markets to acquire children’s fever medication amid a nationwide shortage that has prompted hospitals to grow overcome with patients.
The Canadian public health agency Health Canada said in a statement on Monday that “we are announcing that we have secured foreign supply of children’s acetaminophen that will be available for sale at retail and in community pharmacies in the coming weeks”.
Families have grown desperate as the medication has been absent from store shelves for months, with some having asked friends and family outside of Canada for help, according to The Guardian.
There have also been organised trips to the US to obtain the drugs and children’s health units gave been swamped with patients following the shortage of over-the-counter fever medication.
Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal health minister, said that shipments from abroad will “fill the drugstore counters pretty quickly” and that further deliveries have been planned.
Health Canada has requested that families “only buy what they need” to allow others to be able to get ahold of the medicine.
There has been a shortage of acetaminophen and ibuprofen for younger kids for months as coronavirus, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) washed over the country at the same time. All of the illnesses cause fevers in young children.
Health Canada pointed to “unprecedented demand since the summer” when explaining the shortage, also noting that supply chain problems, an extraordinary surge in RSV cases, as well as hoarding also contributed to the crisis.
The agency has said that all of the incoming shipments of drugs have been reviewed and found to be safe for use. The dose information as well as on ingredients, cautions and warnings, will be available in both French and English.
The public health agency previously removed its requirement that labelling be bilingual to speed up imports from the US and Australia for doses to be used in hospitals.
Canadian rules dictate that all products have labels in French and English to ensure that parents understand the correct doses for their kids.
“At this time, Canadians should buy only what they need, so that other parents and caregivers can access medication so we can meet the needs of sick children,” Health Canada said.
On Monday, the New Democratic Party said that the country should create its own drugmaker operated by the government to make Canada less reliant on supplies from abroad.
“I don’t think there are any issues more important to Canadians than the health of their children,” Don Davies of the NDP told reporters. “When their ability to respond to their children’s pain and their illness is compromised, I think that’s a crisis of the highest order.”
