KEY POINTS
- Overseas supply constraints have led to limited stocks of 391 medications in Australia.
- The affected medications include treatments for children.
- The peak group for doctors says liquid antibiotic medications should be reserved for children and elderly people.
Australia is facing a shortage of , including 20 different antibiotics, leaving doctors and pharmacists searching for alternatives.
The country has been caught up in a worldwide medicine shortage. Forty-four medicines are listed by The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia's regulatory body for the supply of medicines, as being in critical shortage.
Compound pharmacist Mike Yang said it's a sign of how dire the shortage is that he is getting referrals from pharmacies to develop a workaround antibiotic formula for those needing the prescription for common ailments.
"We are a compounding pharmacy, but that is generally for people who cannot tolerate normal commercial products," said Mr Yang, owner of Synergy Compounding Pharmacy in Sydney.
“I’ve been a compounding pharmacist for roughly about seven years and I’ve never once had to compound antibiotics from scratch because they’re readily available from normal chemists everywhere and they’re pretty reasonably priced.
"For us to make antibiotics for common conditions - it's scary because it costs a lot of money. It really highlights the shortage of essential medications to everyday Australians."
What's causing the shortage in domestic supply?
The TGA said global factors are causing the national shortage in medicines, which is expected to last until the end of March.
"It's one of the worst clusters of antibiotic shortages," TGA head Professor John Skerritt told SBS News.
"The issue is there seems to be no single factor that's caused it. We have to remember in the northern hemisphere, they're in the middle of winter. And there's a lot of chest and other bacterial infections.
"This shortage is not just in Australia ... the United States (US) and Canada are also managing shortages of the very same antibiotics."
He said natural disasters can also curtail production at manufacturing facilities, along with quality control issues identified in certain batches.
The pandemic has also impacted supply chains, and the ability to transport medicines to Australia.
"Even now as things start to resolve, we still have delays in our supply chains," Professor Skerritt said.
"Products that might have come in a matter of days [pre-pandemic] are taking weeks to come in. So it's no one factor. It's a whole lot of factors that have contributed to this antibiotic shortage."
What is the message for patients?
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) said it is concerned about the heavier burden on hospitals without a ready supply of common antibiotics, saying the current supply of liquid antibiotics in particular should be reserved for children and the elderly.
General practitioner Michael Wright in Sydney's eastern suburbs said the concern is for treating common childhood infections.
"We've had variable supply of antibiotics including amoxicillin and the common penicillin - and that's creating a lot of anxiety for parents, and also concerns for us," said Dr Wright, who is also deputy chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners NSW/ACT Faculty Board.
He said GPs are working with pharmacies to find alternatives, while also keeping in mind the need to be sparing with prescribing antibiotics as it enlarges the problem of antibiotic resistance - when patients become immune to the medicine and greater doses are needed.
"The important message for patients is that there are alternatives. But it's worthwhile seeing your GP or other doctor to make sure that you get prescribed the most appropriate antibiotic that's available," he said.
The shortage has also affected the supply of diabetes medicine semaglutide - sold as Ozempic - on platforms such as TikTok as a weight loss drug, leading to increased demand.
What about domestic production of medicines?
Professor Skerritt urged against following social media advice on medicines, or panic buying.
He said the TGA has a number of active investigations for those misusing social media to promote treatments.
"Social media promotion of all prescription medicines, because they have side effects and because they should be prescribed under the supervision of the doctor, is illegal in Australia. And we are doing compliance investigations into a number of advertisers."
He said the federal government is considering options to domestically manufacture medicines such as antibiotics in Australia through what is being called the National Reconstruction Fund.
"Over the next year or so, they'll be looking at which particular medical products Australia should manufacture [out of 100,000 products]. But no matter what, even if we step up local production, we're going to have to be selective about which products we make locally," Professor Skerritt said.
