Luxembourg pharmacies are currently facing difficulties with the supply of around 280 different types of medicines.
According to Minister of Health Martine Deprez, this shortage is part of a broader trend that has affected Europe for the past decade.
Deprez explained that, due to regulations requiring manufacturers to report any potential shortages two months in advance, serious supply disruptions that directly impact patients have largely been avoided. However, she acknowledged that a growing number of essential medicines are not reaching pharmacies as expected.
Over the past year, an official EU list of approximately 200 “critical medicines” for serious illnesses has been established. So far, Luxembourg hospitals have not been able to build up a safety stock of these critical substances. This situation is expected to improve with the establishment of the national procurement and logistics centre, which aims to ensure preparedness for sudden shortages or health emergencies.
The issue was raised in a parliamentary question by MPs André Bauler and Carole Hartmann of the Democratic Party (DP).
