The shortage of pediatric and adolescent medicines has resurfaced. This is interpreted as a phenomenon where the supply of medicines for children and adolescents, which have low demand, cannot keep up with demand due to pharmaceutical companies reducing drug production after COVID-19 and the added factor of low birth rates.
Recently, the KakaoTalk group chat "Market for Pharmacists," which gathers 1,300 pharmacists nationwide, has been flooded with posts seeking pediatric and adolescent medicines such as fever-reducing syrups. It has become common for pharmacists to barter products they are out of stock of among themselves due to unstable supply.
The pharmacists' difficulties have led to inconvenience for citizens. Parents with infants and toddlers sometimes embark on quests to find syrup-form fever reducers for children who cannot swallow pills.
This shortage phenomenon is due to the combined effect of increased demand for cold medicines and pharmaceutical companies' drug recall procedures.
In 2020, when COVID-19 landed in Korea, medicines related to cold treatment were rapidly sold. The industry believes the aftermath still remains.
Moreover, in May, the top two market share products for children's fever reducers were suspended from sale due to browning and separation phenomena of clear and opaque liquids, respectively, causing stocks to run out and worsening the supply shortage.
Some have raised suspicions that pharmaceutical companies are adjusting production volumes to reduce costs by depleting inventory as the number of pediatric patients decreases due to low birth rates. While there are many alternatives for adult medicines, there are almost none for pediatric medicines, making the problem more severe.
The Korean Pediatric Hospital Association also voiced concerns about the shortage of pediatric medicines in June. According to a survey of 44 pediatric hospitals nationwide, 141 essential medicines for pediatric and adolescent asthma, flu treatment, antibiotics, etc., have been out of stock for periods ranging from as short as two weeks to over a year, or are frequently out of stock.
Pediatricians have to pay attention to medicine inventory while treating patients and face the hardship of explaining stockout situations to guardians one by one.
Despite these complaints, no clear measures have been announced, and with the holidays approaching, the sighs of parents and pediatricians have deepened even further.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
