(OTTAWA) Health Canada announced on Monday the importation of acetaminophen and ibuprofen for infants and children, pain relievers that should be available on store shelves in the coming weeks.
The federal department had previously announced that it was importing these painkillers for children, but that these products were intended for hospitals.
Health Canada now says it has also secured a guaranteed supply from overseas, which will be distributed to retail and community pharmacies “over the next few weeks.”
The federal government has not specified the quantity of this supply or its origin. But he assures that all these imports will meet Canadian manufacturing standards and will be labeled in English and French.
The ministry also asks consumers to buy only what they need, so that other parents and healthcare professionals have access to these painkillers.
This decision by Health Canada follows a shortage of these drugs for pain and fever in children, while respiratory syncytial viruses are currently raging among toddlers. This shortage, which has lasted for a few months, has forced many parents and health professionals to snap up the last bottles and even to exchange information on the businesses that still had them.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos explained at a press conference in Parliament on Monday that demand had been “exceptionally high during the summer and autumn, and continues to increase”, because “Respiratory viruses have a major impact on our children, especially younger children.”
Mr. Duclos said that over the past few weeks, the country’s domestic production of these painkillers had “significantly increased”, and that the “massive importation” announced on Monday – “the equivalent of several months” of usual demand – had already started to be delivered. This distribution will continue “over the next few weeks and months,” said the minister.