US tariffs could pose challenges to supply of medicines – Streeting

The supply of medicines in the UK could be impacted by the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, the Health Secretary has said.

Wes Streeting said the steps the US has taken are “unprecedented in terms of global trade”.

He said there are a “number of factors at play” in terms of medicines and US tariffs provide “another layer of challenge” for ensuring supplies.

Meanwhile, Mr Streeting also said “the NHS is not for sale and our patients’ data is not for sale” as part of any deal with the US.

“Until this trade war erupted, we’d already had issues with medicines production and supply internationally,” Mr Streeting told Sky News.

“We are constantly watching and acting on this situation to try and get medicines into the country, to make sure we’ve got availability, to show some flexibility in terms of how medicines are dispensed, to deal with shortages.

“But whether it’s medicines, whether it’s parts for manufacturing, whether it’s… the ability of businesses in this country to turn a profit, this is an extremely turbulent situation.”

The steps the US has taken are “unprecedented in terms of global trade”, he said.

“As ever in terms of medicines, there’s a number of factors at play.

“There have been challenges in terms of manufacturing, challenges in terms of distribution, and if we start to see tariffs kicking in, that’s another layer of challenge, but we watch this situation extremely closely.

“We work on a daily basis to make sure that we have the medicine supply this country needs.”

He told BBC Breakfast that patient data is “not for sale” as part of trade negotiations.

Mr Streeting said: “The NHS is not for sale and our patients’ data is not for sale.”

The Health Data Research Service announced by the Prime Minister on Monday is underpinned by the principle that data should be “publicly owned”, he said.

“That data should only be shared for research purposes with our consent,” Mr Streeting added.

“Where we are working with scientists to generate the breakthroughs in science and research, the new treatments and new technology, we should get the benefit from that, and not just from being at the front of the queue, but if people want to use our data for research purposes they should have to pay in order to access that data and that research.

“The data must always belong to us. It should always be held securely. It should only be shared with our individual consent. It should always be anonymised.”