Global commerce friction sparked by Trump tariffs might put 85% of NHS medicines in danger, ministers warned | EUROtoday

The availability of round 85 per cent of NHS medicines could possibly be in danger except the UK authorities strengthens its provide chains to arrange for worsening geopolitical tensions, ministers have been warned.

Manufacturers in Britain have urged the federal government to deal with it as a defence difficulty, with the provision of medication reminiscent of antibiotics beneath menace if international tensions proceed to rise because of Donald Trump’s resolution to impose hefty tariffs internationally.

If pharmaceutical and medical suppliers are hit by the US-led tariff struggle, the NHS might must pay extra for medicines, one other skilled has mentioned.

The warnings come after well being secretary Wes Streeting mentioned UK medicines provides could possibly be impacted by the tariffs imposed on commerce by President Trump.

Mr Streeting mentioned throughout an interview on Sky News that there are a “number of factors at play” in the case of the UK’s provide of medicines, together with manufacturing and distribution challenges, and he warned that tariffs pose “another layer of challenge”.

The well being secretary was responding after the US president mentioned he was not seeking to pause the sweeping tariffs which have plunged international markets into turmoil. Although the US tariffs have up to now exempted the pharmaceutical trade, some medical gadgets and tools are affected, so UK producers would nonetheless be hit by 10 and 20 per cent tariffs when exporting to the US.

Some corporations which rely closely on exports to the US are prone to contemplate shifting their manufacturing from the UK to America, in keeping with RBC analysts quoted in Endpoints News, which might push costs increased for Britons. The UK additionally imports £4.5bn in medical merchandise from the US, the place corporations might elevate costs resulting from tariffs on imported uncooked supplies.

Mark Samuels, chief govt of the British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA), which represents medicines producers in Britain, advised The Independent: “There have been around 100 products (medicines) in shortage for the last year or so, and that’s in peacetime, so it seems to me it would make complete sense to treat the nation’s medicines supply like defence… [medicines supplies] absolutely should be on the same level as defence.”

The BGMA chief mentioned the federal government ought to put together for the risky geopolitical state of affairs to place extra pressure on the UK provide chain. “I would expect the government to make the resilience of the supply chain for generic and other everyday medicines their top priority. It’s not been a priority at all in previous governments. During the pandemic, the government woke up to the fact that most prescription medicines are generic medicine – 85 per cent of NHS prescriptions are generic.

“It makes complete sense [to treat it like defence]particularly as we have various state actors engaged in grey zone hostile activity. A good example of that is antibiotics. We don’t make any antibiotics in the UK: that’s not a resilient situation to be in.”

Other “life critical” medicines, reminiscent of medicine utilized by coronary heart sufferers to forestall sudden demise syndrome, would even be weak, he mentioned.

Generic-based medicines are copies of brand-name medicine which include the identical lively components.

Last yr the BGMA warned medication shortages have been round double the quantity recorded in 2023, with important antibiotics, hormone substitute remedy and a focus deficit hyperactivity dysfunction medicine hit by extreme shortages.

Mr Samuels additionally mentioned ministers should concentrate on renegotiating post-Brexit medicines commerce agreements with the EU, which have negatively impacted the UK’s manufacturing trade. Current guidelines don’t enable UK producers to promote medicines they made to the bloc however do enable EU producers to promote to the UK.

Stockpiling could be a short-term answer, he mentioned, however this might include some extra prices.

Although no tariffs have but been imposed on pharmaceutical merchandise, Dr Sanchayan Banerjee, a behavioural economist on the London School of Economics, highlighted that the medical and pharmaceutical sector was the second-largest UK exporter to the US in 2024. Trade amounted to £6.6bn, with the US making up about 40-50 per cent of whole gross sales for British corporations reminiscent of AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.

He advised The Independent: “A reduced supply could mean higher-end prices for medications for consumers which will mostly fall onto the NHS, which already heavily subsidises drugs.

“To alleviate pressure, encouraging those who can afford it to go private; encouraging on-shoring drug manufacture; and modest increases in prescription charges will help smooth out these costs.”

The authorities was approached for remark.