France needs 2 months to restore antibiotic stocks, says health minister

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – France needs two months to replenish its supplies of antibiotics for children, Health Minister Francois Braun said Thursday.

France suffers from a shortage of medicines that risks being aggravated in the winter amid a triple epidemic of coronavirus, flu, and bronchiolitis.

Paracetamol and children’s antibiotics are hard to find in pharmacies due to supply issues.

Braun told broadcaster France 2 that pharmacies are struggling to provide those medicines due to rising demand. He explained that the demand for the pain reliever paracetamol rose 13% amid the flu epidemic, something the producing companies did not foresee.

"We need two months to be totally replenished and fill our stocks," he said about the antibiotic antiamoxicillin, adding: "Producers tell me that things will be faster for paracetamol."

Braun also said producers are running their production lines 24 hours a day.