COVID-19’s Limited Impact on Drug Shortages in Canada

Abstract

Analysant les données du site Web Pénuries de médicaments Canada, l'auteur se demande si les premiers mois de la pandémie causée par le coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) ont été associés à une hausse importante des pénuries de médicaments au Canada. La hausse qu'il observe dans le nombre de pénuries signalées par les fabricants au cours des mois de mars et avril 2020, par rapport aux mêmes mois des années précédentes, s'établit à 147 (soit 32 pour cent). Cette hausse est concentrée dans la période de deux semaines se situant entre le 25 mars et le 7 avril 2020, après quoi le nombre des pénuries signalées revient aux niveaux habituels. Cette disproportion des pénuries signalées est attribuable à des causes liées tant à l'offre qu'à la demande. Des hausses sont constatées dans les classes thérapeutiques associées aux soins exigés par la COVID-19. Mots clés : chaîne d'approvisionnement pharmaceutique, chocs de santé publique, demande pharmaceutique, pénuries de médicaments Using data from the Drug Shortages Canada website, we ask whether the fi rst months of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic were associated with a signifi cant increase in drug shortages in Canada. We fi nd an increase of 147 shortages (32 percent) reported by manufacturers during March and April 2020 relative to the same months in previous years. The upsurge was concentrated during the two-week period from 25 March to 7 April 2020, after which report counts returned to usual levels. Excess reports cite both supply-side and demand-side causes for shortages. Increases were noted in therapeutic classes associated with COVID-19 care.

Queering Public Health: A Critical Examination of Healthcare Access and Gender Expression among Trans, Nonbinary, and Other Gender Nonconforming People during COVID-19

“…Participants experienced multiple disruptions to gender-afrming care during the frst three waves of COVID-19 in Canada [18]. COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions afected the supply chain for medications nationwide [52,53]. For our participants, this impacted their ability to access hormone therapy.…”

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on sedation in critical care: volatile anesthetics in the ICU

“…Low supply of sedative agents along with many other drugs stemmed from disruption of drug supply chains in China and India that are pivotal in the production of the active ingredients of many agents [ 10 ]. Drug shortages are not a new phenomenon [ 11 ], but the universal surge in demand for the same sedative therapeutics, rapid change in drug purchasing patterns, scaling up and shipping problems led to major drug shortage crises [ 12 ]. The increased demand for sedatives was in part fuelled by higher sedative needs and longer duration of sedation in COVID-19 patients compared with other intubated respiratory failure patients [ 13 ].…”

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Procurement management of strategic inputs in coping with COVID-19: scoping review protocol

“…Public sector procurement is central to adequately responding to crisis situations, such as the new coronavirus pandemic, and requires governments to have the ability to select and assemble the necessary materials at short notice to trigger effective delivery of government services (Atkinson et al, 2020). In this context, the purchase may run into difficulties, in view of the increase in demand, the low availability of raw materials of manufacturing inputs and finished products, besides the increase in prices (Amaya et al, 2021;Gaudette, 2020).…”