Community Pharmacists proactive management of medicine shortages protects patients, over 11 hours per week of an EU pharmacist time is devoted to managing medicine shortages. Today, Thomas Byrne TD, Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, addressed attendees at the 2025 PGEU Annual Conference “Building a Resilient Pharmacy Workforce for the Future”, emphasizing the vital role European pharmacists play in shaping EU h...

At the 2025 PGEU Annual Conference, themed “Building a Resilient Pharmacy Workforce for the Future”, Ireland’s Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, TD, acknowledged the essential role of community pharmacists as constructive and reliable partners within the healthcare system. Speaking to an audience of European pharmacy leaders, representatives of national pharmacists’ organisations, chambers, and pharmacy associations, Minis...

Today, at PGEU General Assembly, PGEU members elected Mikołaj Konstanty from the Polish Pharmaceutical Chamber as PGEU President for 2026 and Ly Rootslane from the Estonian Pharmacies Association as PGEU Vice-President. They will start their mandate from 1st January 2026. The newly elected President Mikołaj Konstanty advanced: ”I would like to thank all PGEU members for their trust. The upcoming year 2026 is going to be crucial for pharmacy ...

Medicine shortages have become a persistent threat to public health across Europe. Despite community pharmacists’ continued proactive efforts to find solutions, we continue to see a negative impact on patients’ health and a concerning erosion of patients’ trust in the medicines supply chain. Medicine’s unavailability causes inconvenience and distress to patients, and it can lead to discontinuation of treatment, increased co-payments or ou...

The latest PGEU Medicines Shortage Survey underscores the persistent and significant impact of medicines shortages across Europe. Over the past twelve months, pharmacies have consistently faced high levels of shortages, with 61% of countries reporting that the situation has not improved compared to the previous year’s survey, which was an exceptionally high benchmark for shortages. This year’s survey highlights a concerning trend: the time ph...

As healthcare systems face mounting pressure, community pharmacists’ role is more vital than ever. But many European countries are facing difficulties in recruiting and retaining community pharmacists, exacerbated by burnout, early retirements, and a lack of interest among students. PGEU calls for comprehensive measures to address the growing shortage of pharmacists in Europe, urging policymakers, healthcare providers and educational instit...

Annexe: Expériences nationales des membres du GPUE Belgique : Comment rendre la profession de pharmacien plus attrayante ?    L’Association nationale des pharmaciens (APB) a mis sur pied trois groupes de travail afin de discuter de la question de la pénurie de main-d’œuvre en pharmacie. Le groupe de travail “Offre” a travaillé et assuré la liaison avec les universités, dans le but de travailler sur les conditions...

Médecins, infirmières, pharmaciens de ville et d’hôpital, hôpitaux et services de santé, consommateurs, personnes âgées, caisses d’assurance maladie et mutuelles de santé à but non lucratif, appellent les législateurs à maintenir les notices papier et à utiliser les notices électroniques comme un outil complémentaire. Dans la perspective des futures négociations interinstitutionnelles des colégislateurs sur la proposit...

Depuis plus de dix ans, le GPUE publie un rapport annuel sur les pénuries de médicaments et, au fil des ans, nous avons constaté que le nombre de pénuries s’aggravait progressivement dans tous les pays. Malgré les efforts continus des pharmaciens pour trouver des solutions, nous constatons un impact négatif significatif sur la santé des patients et une érosion inquiétante de la confiance des patients dans le système de santé. Cet...

The Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) and the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) are today exchanging views on solutions for shortages of medicines, medical devices and healthcare professionals in a joint event with policy-makers, academics and professionals. Pharmacists and doctors are concerned about the rise of medicine shortages across Europe, affecting the quality of care of patients. PGEU President Aris Prins said...

Today, at its General Assembly meeting, the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) has elected Clare Fitzell from the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) as PGEU President for 2025 and Claude Hostert-Pfeiffer from the Union of Luxembourg Pharmacists (SPL) as PGEU Vice-President. They will start their mandate from 1st January 2025.  In her acceptance speech Clare Fitzell stressed: ”I am truly honoured to have been elected to serve as PG...

Chronic medicine shortages affect patients’ health and pharmacy practice

From antibiotics to cardiovascular to respiratory, most types of medicines continue to be in short supply. PGEU annual medicine shortages report indicates that in 2023 the situation grew worse compared to previous years. In the Netherlands alone 2.292 shortages were registered last year affecting about 5 million people. Other countries like Sweden, Portugal and Spain saw a significant increase in the number of shortages. PGEU President Aris Prins...

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Annexe Exemples de membres du GPUE illustrant la contribution des pharmaciens d’officine aux stratégies de vaccination Belgique: Les pharmaciens d’officine , un soutien essentiel pour les campagnes de vaccination contre le virus COVID-19   Lors de la pandémie de COVID-19, les pharmaciens ont joué un rôle crucial qui s’est encore renforcé à partir du moment où les vaccins sont devenus disponibles. Une loi a été adoptée p...

European community pharmacists welcome the Communication on medicines shortages adopted today by the European Commission.  PGEU has long been calling for bold and ambitious measures to address the problem of medicines shortages. We hope that the initiatives outlined in the Communication will help to avoid another period of severe medicine shortages like the one we experienced with antibiotics last winter which could compromise not only public he...

Today, at its General Assembly meeting, the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) has elected Aris Prins, from the Royal Dutch Pharmacists Association (KNMP) as PGEU President for 2024 and Dimitar Marinov from the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union (BPhU) as PGEU Vice-President. Both will start their mandate from 1st January 2024. In his acceptance speech Aris Prins stressed: "I am truly honoured to have been elected to serve as PGEU ...

La résistance aux antimicrobiens survient lorsque des bactéries, des virus, des champignons et des parasites se modifient au fil du temps et ne répondent plus aux médicaments, ce qui rend les infections plus difficiles à traiter et augmente le risque de propagation de la maladie, de maladie grave et de décès. L’augmentation émergente des microbes résistants aux traitements antimicrobiens est devenue un problème de santé publique ...

Community pharmacists: standing by European patients

Medicine shortages are on the rise in Europe. The results of our annual shortages survey indicate that the situation in 2022 has worsened and that all countries and all classes of medicines continue to be affected. Moreover, over the last weeks, the surge in respiratory infections has led to an increasing demand for antibiotics such as amoxicillin – especially for paediatric use – and the supply disruptions currently reported in some countrie...

This year, PGEU is supporting the Belgian Red Cross.

PGEU, the European organization representing community pharmacists, published today a position paper on the European Commission proposal for a European Health Data Space (EHDS) asking for stronger safeguards to maintain the bond of trust between health care professionals and patients. The EHDS will support community pharmacists in providing better services and treatments to patients while promoting the safe use of medicines, but it is importan...

PGEU welcomes the proposal for a European Health Data Space (hereinafter, “EHDS” or the “Proposal”) and supports the general objective of the EHDS of facilitating the access of health data across the Union for primary and secondary uses, whilst ensuring citizens have control over their own health data.  PGEU also agrees it is vital to strengthen health systems and the healthcare workforce, including by digital transformation, appropriate...

Today, at its General Assembly meeting, the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union has elected Mr. Koen Straetmans, from the Belgian Pharmaceutical Association (APB) as PGEU President for 2023 and Dr. Risto Kanerva from the Association of Finnish Pharmacies as PGEU Vice-President for 2023.  In his acceptance speech Mr. Straetmans stressed: ”I’m very proud to have been  elected to serve as PGEU President. The upcoming revision...

European community pharmacists stand together to condemn Russia’s unprecedented military aggression against Ukraine and to share their strong solidarity with their Ukrainian colleagues and the Ukrainian people during these dark times. Since the beginning of the conflict community pharmacists and pharmacy organisations across Europe have been raising funds and have supported ongoing humanitarian actions, including through donations of medica...

Community Pharmacists Exemplar Role as Primary Care Providers in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Today, at its General Assembly meeting, the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union has elected Mr. Roberto Tobia, from the Italian pharmacy owners federation ( Federfarma) as PGEU President for 2022 and Mr. Raimund Podroschko from the Austrian chamber of pharmacists as PGEU Vice-President for 2022. In his acceptance speech Mr. Tobia stressed: “I am really delighted to have the opportunity to represent european community pharmacists ne...

A new European project has been launched, with the purpose to improve equitable vaccine uptake by strengthening collaboration between healthcare professionals, public health authorities, the media and local communities. IMMUNION will contribute to and complement wider EU vaccination efforts through delivering better education to health professionals and better information to the general public. Communicating evidence-based information about vacc...

ISBE Executive Summary for download Pharmacy interventions on COVID-19 in Europe: Mapping current practices and a scoping review

The role of Community pharmacists in the fight against COVID-19

THE EUROPEAN COALITION FOR VACCINATION  CALLS ON HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS TO GET VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19  Today, the Coalition for Vaccination has published a manifesto to encourage healthcare professionals to get vaccinated against COVID-19.  The manifesto highlights three key reasons why all healthcare professionals should get vaccinated against COVID-19 when they have the opportunity to do so and why they should help promote t...

  PGEU welcomes the ambitions set forward in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan adopted yesterday by the European Commission. European community pharmacists offer their support for the implementation of the Plan’s objectives in primary care and are committed to take up an enhanced role in providing quality, convenient and affordable access to professional healthcare services within their domains of expertise. PGEU President Alain Delgutte stat...

Main findings of the survey: All responding countries experienced medicine shortages in community pharmacies in the past 12 months, and in the majority (65%) of countries, respondents indicated that the situation got worse compared to 2019. All classes of medicines are affected by medicine shortages in community pharmacies across Europe. Cardiovascular medications have been short in supply in community pharmacies in the highest percentage of cou...

European community pharmacists welcome the ambitions set forward in the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe adopted today by the European Commission. We believe the proposed measures will help ensure patients’ access to safe and affordable medicines and the financial sustainability of health systems.  PGEU President Duarte Santos stated: “Today’s ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the unacceptable, increasingly negative impact medicine...

The emerging and steady increase of microbes that are resistant to antimicrobials has become a global public health concern that threatens the effective treatment of infectious diseases. PGEU President Duarte Santos stated: “Despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis we cannot afford to lower our guard in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). If this crisis has taught us one thing, it is that having access to adequate prevention, screening...

Today, at its General Assembly meeting, the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union has elected Mr. Alain Delgutte, member of the National Council of the French Chamber of Pharmacists, as PGEU President for 2021 and Mr. Mathias Arnold, Member of Federal Union of German Pharmacists Associations (ABDA) as PGEU Vice-President for 2021. In his acceptance speech Mr. Delgutte stressed: “2021 will be a difficult year; but in crises and adversity, ...

The approaching seasonal influenza and the resurgence of Covid-19 cases across Europe are going to place an enormous burden on already strained health care services. Implementing flu vaccination programmes in times of Covid-19 will be particularly challenging and it is urgent to put in place effective vaccination campaigns that can help preventing hospitalisations, ensuring adequate access and uptake of flu vaccines especially for at risk groups....

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis community pharmacists have been working with tireless commitment and determination to guarantee patients continued access to treatments. They have been accessible 24/7 also during the lockdown and have arranged home delivery services for the most vulnerable people. Throughout the crisis, they have been the first line of advice, treatment and referral for many European citizens on common ailments, success...

European community pharmacists are in the frontline in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and they are doing everything in their power to support their patients, including in areas currently in lockdown. PGEU members have offered national governments their wide local pharmacies network to assist the health authorities in the dissemination of information to citizens on how to prevent the spread of the virus. They have launc...

Today PGEU celebrates its 60th anniversary with a special event in the European Parliament. This occasion is an opportunity to acknowledge the community pharmacists’ vital contribution to the health of people over the last decades and discuss how to shape the pharmacy of the future to better meet patients’ needs. The event brings together several Members of the European Parliament, senior officials from the European Commission and OE...

Today the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union has elected Mr Duarte Santos, Member of the Board of the Portuguese Pharmacy Association (ANF), as PGEU President for 2020, at its General Assembly meeting in Kraków, Poland. In his acceptance speech Mr. Santos stressed: “I’m truly honoured to have been appointed as PGEU President 2020. Pharmacy practice is rapidly evolving and shifting the focus from dispensing medicines to advanced patie...

Résumé Les médicaments sont de moins en moins disponibles en Europe, et ce problème a d’énormes répercussions sur les patients. Des pénuries de médicaments se produisent dans tous les environnements de soins de santé et concernent aussi bien des médicaments vitaux et essentiels que des médicaments très couramment utilisés. Les pharmaciens d’officine sont très préoccupés par ce phénomène qui peut mettre en péril la santé de...

Community pharmacists are ready to enhance their contribution and to help Europe’s health systems.

European community pharmacists consider new, innovative and automated technologies a useful tool to support and complement their expert professional advice to patients and to deliver more efficient, sustainable and high-quality pharmacy services. Community pharmacists have the infrastructure and expertise to deploy Big Data and AI in practice: they already use digital services on a daily basis (e.g. dispensing ePrescription, checking for medicati...

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The new term of the European Parliament offers an unprecedented opportunity for Members of the European Parliament to determine the course of EU action on health issues. Indeed, 2019 is a crucial year for the EU institutions to decide on whether maintaining health policy in the EU agenda. PGEU calls for the continuation of a comprehensive and coherent EU approach to health and for health dossiers, including medicines and medical devices, to remai...

Today the Council of the European Union adopted a Recommendation on strengthened cooperation against vaccine preventable diseases. The Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) welcomes the Council Recommendation as a basis to improving vaccine coverage and tackling vaccine hesitancy in the EU. PGEU supports the call to facilitate access to vaccination services by simplifying and broadening the opportunities to offer vaccination, leveragi...

Today the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union has elected Mr Michał Byliniak from the Polish Pharmaceutical Chamber, NIA, as PGEU President for 2019, at its General Assembly meeting in Marbella, Spain. Pharmacist by profession, Mr Michał Byliniak graduated from the pharmaceutical faculty of the Warsaw Medical University, Poland. Currently, he is the vice-president of the Polish Pharmaceutical Chamber and has over 15 years of professional...