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BAPW stresses difference between full and shortline wholesalers
Martin Sawer, the BAPW’s Exceutive Director, believes that more stakeholders should recognise the difference between full and shortline pharmaceutical wholesalers. In a letter to the Guardian, reflecting an article on medicines intended for Africa finding their way to EU markets, he wrote:
‘Your story (UK Firms Involved in Diverting Aids Drugs, April 25th) illustrates a weakness in the supply chain for medicines often overlooked by regulators, but critical to the safety of patients.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency issues licences to many hundreds of pharmaceutical wholesalers each year. Many of these wholesalers will deal only in a few medicines, looking for quick profits where the market allows them.
In contrast, our members (full-line wholesalers) offer the full range of licensed medicines to customers and employ the unseen army of workers who deliver around the clock, up to four times a day, to hospitals, doctors and pharmacies, from Land’s End to John O’Groats. They ensure that you and I receive even the most rarely prescribed medicines whenever and wherever they are required, sometimes within a matter of minutes of them being ordered from a depot.
Whilst full-line wholesalers operate to the highest safety and quality standards, held to account by competitors, customers and regulators, the same cannot always be said of those in the industry to make a quick buck. Patients, prescribers and regulators often take for granted that high quality medicines arrive safely and quickly to wherever they are needed across the UK, yet it is no accident. However, one thing that patients do expect is that their medicines are sourced legitimately and transparently – something short-line wholesalers and their regulator cannot always guarantee.
If confidence in the medicines supply chain is to be rebuilt after recent drug scandals and the Health Select Committee’s criticism of pharmaceutical industry, it is essential that patients know that their drugs are sourced and stored safely and effectively. As a start, it might be necessary to look at the issuing and monitoring of all these hundreds of licences to “wholesalers”.’
