The Malta Medicines Authority said that it is “closely monitoring” the European and local market for shortages of medicines.

In a statement, the Authority said that it “has intervened and recommended over 800 special authorisations for medicines in short supply in the EU which were all made accessible to Malta this year.”

The Medicines Intelligence and Access Unit within the Malta Medicines Authority “actively works around the clock with a patient-centred approach to mitigate shortages and maintain the continuous provision of medicines by participating in the European network,” it said.

The MMA added that it is also communicating with other competent authorities to gather intelligence and enhance access to medicines by identifying reliable sources of medicines and using regulatory flexibilities.

“In spite of ongoing shortages at EU level, whereby the European Medicines Agency Medicines Shortages Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Working Party declared that 25 out of 30 EU/EEA Member States are affected by shortages of antibiotics resulting from an increase in demand, delays in manufacturing of medicines, production capacity issues including lack of personnel and packaging material,” the MMA said that it “can confirm that a variety of cough mixtures, antibiotic medicines, specifically amoxicillin/clavulanic acid liquid formulation, and equivalent alternative medicines are today available in local community pharmacies.”

The MMA concluded by saying that it is “closely monitoring the European and local market for shortages of medicines, continuously liaises with stakeholders, compiles and utilises medicines intelligence to take the necessary actions to source medicines which are of good quality, safety and efficacy for the benefit of the patient.”

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