Almost half of adults in the UK have struggled to get their prescriptions, and more are now blaming Brexit than anything else for medicine shortages, according to research.
Forty-nine per cent of people said they had had trouble getting a prescription dispensed over the past two years, the period during which supply problems have increased sharply, The Guardian has reported.
Drug shortages are so serious that one in 12 Britons were unable to find the medication they needed, despite asking a number of pharmacies.
The survey of 2,028 people representative of the population, undertaken by Opinium for the British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA), found that:
- One in 12 people (8%) have gone without a medication altogether because it was impossible to obtain.
- A third (31%) found the drug they needed was out of stock at their pharmacy.
- A quarter (23%) of pharmacies did not have enough of the medication available.
When asked why shortages were so common, more cited issues involving the UK leaving the EU (36%) than inflation (33%) or global conflict and instability (26%).
“Shortages are deeply worrying for patients’ physical health, alongside the stress of not knowing if an essential medicine will be available,” said Mark Samuels, chief executive of the BGMA.
“Several factors are contributing to the problem and the Brexit agreement is definitely one of them. For example, medicines made here can’t be exported to Europe but those made on the continent can be brought here. This gives zero incentive to increase manufacturing capacity in the UK, a capability that could help with shortages,” he added.
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