Constitutional article planned Several measures to make the supply of medicines safer
The Federal Council wants to strengthen the supply of medicines: With new packaging rules, a real-time monitoring system and a constitutional amendment, Switzerland should be better armed against shortages.
20.03.2026, 13:37
SDA
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- The Federal Council wants to combat shortages of medicines with simplified packaging and a real-time monitoring system.
- A new constitutional article is intended to safeguard the supply of important medical goods.
- It serves as a counter-proposal to the popular initiative for medical supply security.
There have been repeated shortages in the supply of medicines for years. This mainly affects inexpensive medicines that cannot be easily replaced. The Federal Council wants to remedy this situation with short and medium-term measures and a constitutional article.
In the short term, the Federal Council wants to tackle packaging, as it wrote on Friday. For example, the current multilingual package inserts are to be replaced by a QR code. Medicinal products that are approved in Switzerland and the EU should also no longer require Swiss-specific packaging.
Supply situation in real time
In the medium term, the Federal Council wants to take measures to record the supply situation accurately and continuously. The federal government, as well as doctors, pharmacies and hospitals, should later be able to see in real time which medicines are available and which are not, and what alternatives would be available in the event of shortages.
Work on this monitoring system is set to begin in 2026, with a view to the new constitutional article that the Federal Council is proposing to Parliament. It wants to enshrine the secure supply of important medical goods for humans and animals in the constitution. The dispatch on this is now before Parliament.
The Federal Council wants to ensure that the Confederation can not only monitor the supply situation, but also take measures against shortages and difficult supplies. It cites economic incentives, production orders and the purchase of supply-critical medicines as examples.
There are gaps in the division of tasks between the federal government, cantons and the economy, or the cantons responsible for healthcare are unable to act due to "highly globalized interdependencies", writes the Federal Council.
In the view of the Federal Council, the Confederation should be able to intervene in particular where care problems occur frequently and the market cannot guarantee seamless care.
Counter-proposal to the popular initiative
After parliament, the people and the cantons would have to approve the constitutional amendment. According to the Federal Council, Switzerland currently only has a constitutional basis for the national management of important medical goods when it comes to combating communicable and malignant diseases.
The new constitutional article is to be a direct counter-proposal to the popular initiative "Yes to medical care security (care initiative)". The initiative calls for the federal government to promote the research, development and production of important therapeutic products in Switzerland and to ensure access to them.