{"id":551217,"date":"2026-03-28T22:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/551217\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T22:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:21:08","slug":"uk-just-a-few-weeks-from-medicine-shortages-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/551217\/","title":{"rendered":"UK just ‘a few weeks’ from medicine shortages | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain is teetering on the brink of full-blown medicine shortages, with everything from painkillers to critical cancer treatments likely to be in short supply if the war with Iran<\/a> drags on, industry experts have warned. The conflict has shut down much of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> and severely disrupted Gulf air routes, choking supplies of key raw materials including oil<\/a>, gas and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Health supplies could be next in line.<\/p>\n

David Weeks, director of supply chain risk management at Moody\u2019s Analytics in Texas, described the situation as \u201cthe perfect storm\u201d. Mr Weeks said: \u201cWe have the conflict in the Gulf that caused the Strait of Hormuz to shut down, and India<\/a> is known as the pharmacy of the world. They produce a lot of the generic [off-patent] drugs and APIs. With the geopolitical situation, it\u2019s harder and harder to get those out.\u201d<\/p>\n

India supplies around 60% of generic medicines used globally and a significant share of the UK\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

The UK produces about half its medicines domestically, with a third coming from India and much of the rest from the EU. Generics make up 85% of NHS medications.<\/p>\n

Mark Samuels, chief executive of Medicines UK, which represents generic manufacturers, told The Guardian<\/a>: \u201cWe\u2019re not in a crisis currently but it\u2019s still a serious situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, if the conflict continues, shortages could hit in only a few weeks, it is feared. Medical distributors typically hold six to eight weeks of stock, while hospital suppliers in England must maintain eight weeks\u2019 worth.<\/p>\n

Airports in Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi were initially closed and are now on limited schedules, forcing rerouting of shipments. Air cargo through the region plunged 80% earlier this month and remains sharply down.<\/p>\n

One in five NHS medicines arrives by air, including expensive cancer drugs, infectious disease treatments, cell and gene therapies, and biologics requiring cold storage.<\/p>\n

The US-Israel<\/a> war on Iran has doubled air freight costs. Manufacturers are currently absorbing the hikes, but Mr Samuels warned: \u201cHistorically low margins mean some drugs could become loss-making for the NHS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long-term contracts limit price rises to hospitals, but suppliers can increase costs for GP practices and pharmacies.<\/p>\n

Wouter Dewulf, pharma logistics professor at Antwerp Management School, said: \u201cSupplies are currently not disrupted, but disturbed.\u201d Mr Dewulf expects single-digit price increases if the war worsens, adding: \u201cEverything depends on how long the war lasts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sea shipping, the main route for most medicines, faces major strain from the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope adds 14 days and about \u00a3750,000 in extra fuel costs per voyage.<\/p>\n

Frank Van Gelder, secretary general of Pharma.Aero, said: \u201cThe Middle East airspace once handled 3,700 passenger flights daily, many carrying pharma cargo.\u201d Rising oil and gas prices are also inflating costs of petrochemicals such as methanol and ethylene, used in APIs and medical equipment like syringes and vials.<\/p>\n

Mr Van Gelder said: \u201cThe overall ripple effect on the pharma industry is significant. Who is going to pay for that? In the end we all pay more, right?\u201d \u2014 either directly as patients or through the taxpayer-funded NHS.<\/p>\n

Experts recall Covid<\/a>-era shortages of paracetamol and other painkillers when Indian production struggled. For now, healthcare cargo retains priority over e-commerce, but prolonged disruption threatens even stable generic, it is thought.<\/p>\n

The warnings come as the NHS and pharmacies monitor buffer stocks closely. No immediate crisis has materialised, but the clock is ticking on the six-to-eight-week stocks that stand between Britain and widespread shortfalls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain is teetering on the brink of full-blown medicine shortages, with everything from painkillers to critical cancer treatments…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[2605,245183,97,228016,243,1624,245184,245182,245181],"class_list":{"0":"post-551217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-drugs","9":"tag-generic-drug-supply","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-iran-israel-conflict","12":"tag-medication","13":"tag-nhs","14":"tag-nhs-pharmaceutical-impact","15":"tag-strait-of-hormuz-conflict","16":"tag-uk-medicine-shortages"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}