Danish hospitals are facing increasing shortages of essential medicines, including morphine tablets for pain management, anesthetics for surgeries, and saline for various treatments, raising concerns among patient organizations and prompting government and regional responses. The Danish Medicines Agency has reported a surge in backordered medications and supply disruptions, leading to proposals for significant investments in a national medicine preparedness system.

The regions are advocating for billion-kroner investments to establish a system capable of producing medicine during supply disruptions. This initiative aims to mitigate the impact of global events on the availability of crucial medications. The proposal includes assessing which critical medicines should be produced domestically and the necessary stock levels.

Mads Duedahl, Deputy Chairman of Danish Regions, emphasizes the need for a joint plan with the government to determine the appropriate level of preparedness. This plan would also address the extent to which the supply chain should be controlled within Danish, Nordic, or European entities. Currently, the Capital Region of Denmark’s hospital pharmacy in Herlev produces a limited selection of critical medicines, such as anesthesia, painkillers, and antibiotics, highlighting the need for increased capacity.

While patient organizations support increased public medicine production, the pharmaceutical industry expresses skepticism. Henrik Vestergaard, Vice Managing Director of the Danish Pharmaceutical Industry Association, questions the effectiveness and practicality of building public production capacity for a wide range of medicines. He suggests exploring alternative solutions, such as attracting critical production to Denmark and Europe and coordinating national preparedness with European initiatives.

Minister for the Interior and Health, Sophie Løhde, acknowledges the potential impact of global events on medicine supply and affirms the government’s commitment to monitoring supply security. The government is actively exploring ways to strengthen the national preparedness system for medicines. The situation is considered dire, with hospitals experiencing a sharp increase in backordered “item numbers” and supply cases, significantly exceeding pre-pandemic levels.