- Region
- Águilas
- Alhama de Murcia
- Jumilla
- Lorca
- Los Alcázares
- Mazarrón
- San Javier
-
ALL AREAS & TOWNS
- AREAS
- SOUTH WEST
- MAR MENOR
- MURCIA CITY & CENTRAL
- NORTH & NORTH WEST
- TOWNS
- Abanilla
- Abarán
- Aguilas
- Alamillo
- Alcantarilla
- Aledo
- Alhama de Murcia
- Archena
- Balsicas
- Blanca
- Bolnuevo
- Bullas
- Cañadas del Romero
- Cabo de Palos
- Calasparra
- Camping Bolnuevo
- Campo De Ricote
- Camposol
- Canada De La Lena
- Caravaca de la Cruz
- Cartagena
- Cehegin
- Ceuti
- Cieza
- Condado de Alhama
- Corvera
- Costa Cálida
- Cuevas De Almanzora
- Cuevas de Reyllo
- El Carmoli
- El Mojon
- El Molino (Puerto Lumbreras)
- El Pareton / Cantareros
- El Raso
- El Valle Golf Resort
- Fortuna
- Fuente Alamo
- Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
- Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
- Isla Plana
- Islas Menores & Mar de Cristal
- Jumilla
- La Azohia
- La Charca
- La Manga Club
- La Manga del Mar Menor
- La Pinilla
- La Puebla
- La Torre
- La Torre Golf Resort
- La Unión
- Las Palas
- Las Ramblas
- Las Ramblas Golf
- Las Torres de Cotillas
- Leiva
- Librilla
- Lo Pagan
- Lo Santiago
- Lorca
- Lorquí
- Los Alcázares
- Los Balcones
- Los Belones
- Los Canovas
- Los Nietos
- Los Perez (Tallante)
- Los Urrutias
- Los Ventorrillos
- Mar De Cristal
- Mar Menor
- Mar Menor Golf Resort
- Mazarrón
- Mazarrón Country Club
- Molina de Segura
- Moratalla
- Mula
- Murcia City
- Murcia Property
- Pareton
- Peraleja Golf Resort
- Perin
- Pilar de la Horadada
- Pinar de Campoverde
- Pinoso
- Playa Honda
- Playa Honda / Playa Paraíso
- Pliego
- Portmán
- Pozo Estrecho
- Puerto de Mazarrón
- Puerto Lumbreras
- Puntas De Calnegre
- Region of Murcia
- Ricote
- Roda Golf Resort
- Roldan
- Roldan and Lo Ferro
- San Javier
- San Pedro del Pinatar
- Santiago de la Ribera
- Sierra Espuña
- Sucina
- Tallante
- Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
- Torre Pacheco
- Totana
- What's On Weekly Bulletin
- Yecla
- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Alicante Today Andalucia Today
article_detail
Date Published: 28/04/2022
ARCHIVED - British women turn to Spain for HRT medication
A medication shortage in the UK has led to many women paying to have pills flown in from Spain
The use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to treat the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause has grown exponentially in recent years and in the UK alone, one million of the 13 million menopausal or premenopausal women use these drugs to replace oestrogen and progesterone, which decline with age.
However, the shortage of supply of some products, such as the ever-popular Oestrogel, had led to an increasing number of women resorting to the black market, Facebook groups and even sharing medications with friends.
Another worrying phenomenon which has arisen is people ferrying back copious amounts of HRT drugs from Spain, where they are available in many places without a prescription.
This is an extremely risky business, and medical experts across Britain have warned women against paying for drugs flown in from Spain, with co-chair of the UK Menopause Task Force Carolyn Harris going so far as to say “we will turn women into drug mules if we don’t watch out.”
The trouble is that HRT treatments are prescribed on a case-by-case basis; there are several different brands and strengths of medication, and taking the wrong dose could have serious health implications.
Dr. Sam Nabli, a London family physician, pointed out that “If you need, for example, an antibiotic such as amoxicillin, the dose is unique and always the same for an adult person, but in the case of HRT the doses change and are adjusted to each patient woman”, which makes self-medicating a very complicated affair.
The situation hasn’t gone unnoticed by the powers that be, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has blamed the shortage of HRT medication on the global supply problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic, while the manufacturers of Oestrogel have promised that they are doing “everything possible to increase the supply.”
The Minister of health, Sajid Javid, has vowed to do the same: “I know how much women trust HRT and that some have had difficulties obtaining certain medications”, so “I will urgently call a meeting with providers to find ways in which we can work together to improve supply in the short and long term”.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Loading
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
25% Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
Contact Murcia Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268