You may have noticed the price of paracetamol has risen since the coronavirus pandemic took hold. And you're not the only one.
Pharmacists have noticed it too, and not just for paracetamol products, such as Calpol but for medication across the board.
And it's all down to increasing global demand as the world tries to deal with the virus.
Paracetamol has been recommended by the NHS to relieve some of the symptoms of coronavirus, unless instructed otherwise by a doctor.
According to Reuters, India, the world’s biggest supplier of generic pharmaceuticals like paracetamol, has restricted export of them because of shortages.
It has affected the import of 26 pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines made from them as the pandemic puts pressure on supply chains.
Indian drugmakers in turn rely on China, the source of the virus, for nearly 70% of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) needed to make medicines.
And industry experts say they are likely to face shortages if the epidemic drags on.
Dinesh Dua, the chairman of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), told Reuters that some of the restricted APIs and medicines were widely exported to Europe and the United States.
“I am getting a huge number of calls from Europe because it is very sizeably dependent on Indian formulations and we control almost 26% of the European formulations in the generic space. So they are panicking,” Dr Dua said.
In Wales, pharmacists say they have noticed an increase in the cost of some prescribed and over-the-counter drugs when ordering.
However, Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW), the body which represents pharmacies across Wales, said pharmacists were focused on ensuring patients and customers got the medication they needed.
A spokesman for CPW said: “The situation is it is skyrocketing, not just for people buying it over the counter, but for pharmacists too.
“Right across the board, the price of medicine is going up and it is hitting pharmacies the hardest.
“Pharmacies are focused on ploughing on through, keeping a continuous supply, so that as many people can get the medication they need.”
He said people noticed the price rise more with paracetamol because they were used to buying it in shops, but prices of over-the-counter medicines had also risen.
The spokesman described how demand for pharmacy services in Wales rose sharply last week, for example, one pharmacy in Wales sold 8,000 items in one week, where it usually sold 11,000 in an entire month.
Another Welsh pharmacy sold 2,800 items in one day, which usually sells 900 a day.
He urged people not to be abusive towards pharmaceutical staff and to be patient.
“We are facing unprecedented demand. Community pharmacies are the only primary care service that is required by the Welsh Government to stay open to the public.
“Other providers such as doctors, dentists and optometrists have understandably limited their availability to emergency patients. In community pharmacy, the workload has increased massively meaning that we have needed to rapidly changed the way we work.
“In this challenging time the public has to be understanding and respect community pharmacy staff. Unfortunately, we are hearing some very distressing stories from the network right across Wales. Community pharmacists and other key workers should not have to put up with abuse.”
The CPW and the Welsh Government have developed together five steps for people to follow to help their pharmacies in Wales.
The steps are:
• Do not visit a pharmacy if you or anyone in your household has a high temperature or continuous cough.
• Plan ahead where possible, try to order your next prescription seven days before it is due.
• Put your contact details on your prescription so pharmacies can let you know when your medicines are ready to collect.
• If you are self-isolating please ask family, friends or neighbours to arrange to pick up your medication for you. If you don’t have anyone who can, speak to your community pharmacy to see how they can help.
• If you are well and able to visit the pharmacy yourself, think about how you can help family, friends and neighbours who are self-isolating.
A Boots spokeswoman said the price of paracetamol at its stores would not increase, though sales would be limited.
She said: “Boots UK has not increased the price of any paracetamol-containing medicines. To help make sure as many people as possible can purchase them we are currently limiting the sale of these products to one pack per customer.”
A spokeswoman from Calpol said they were aware their products had been made more expensive in some stores.
She said: “We are aware that some retailers have increased the price of paracetamol products like Calpol. We provide a recommended retail price (RRP) for products on sale in the UK, however final pricing decisions are at the sole discretion of the retailer."
