Ireland urges people not to stockpile medicines ahead of Brexit
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland’s deputy prime minister on Tuesday called on people not to stockpile medicine before Britain quits the European Union, saying the country had at least eight weeks of supply and was moving to source medicines from other EU countries.
Despite its large pharmaceutical industry, Ireland relies on Britain for many medicines. Some of them may not be approved for use in the EU if Britain leaves on March 29 without a deal, Simon Coveney told RTE radio.
Ireland has eight to 12 weeks’ supply of virtually all medicines in Ireland, Coveney said.
“Pharmacists and people in general should not be stockpiling medicines because actually stockpiling in itself sometimes causes problems with supply,” he added.
Britain has told its residents the same thing. Stockpiling “risks shortages ... if everyone does what they are supposed to, we are confident the supply of medicines will continue uninterrupted,” said Stephen Hammond, the health minister responsible for Brexit.
“While we have a huge amount of contingency planning in place ... I wouldn’t like to give the impression that we could easily manage a no-deal Brexit,” Coveney said. “It would put huge strain on the Irish economy.”
Britain is supposed to leave the EU on March 29, but it still has no deal in place on the terms. Last week, the British parliament defeated Prime Minister Theresa May’s latest effort to gain approval for her Brexit strategy.
FEBRUARY 19, 2019
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