Babiš Promised to Personally Fetch Medicines While in Opposition — Now as PM, He's Off on Holiday Amid Tamoxifen Shortage

Czech pharmacies have run out of tamoxifen, a drug needed by thousands of breast cancer patients — yet instead of taking urgent action, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has gone on holiday. According to the State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL), as of August 5 the entire pharmacy network had just 81 packs of the medication left, against annual demand of roughly 40,000 packs.

Promises from the Past

Back in 2022–2023, when Czech pharmacies faced shortages of penicillin and children's Nurofen, Babiš — then in opposition — harshly criticized the health minister of the day. He claimed that if he were prime minister, he would personally track down scarce medicines around the world and bring them to Czechia himself. As for then-minister Vlastimil Válek, Babiš said he "couldn't even handle reception duty at the Health Ministry."

A Different Reality

Today the picture looks quite different. The shipment of tamoxifen promised by the Health Ministry (headed by Adam Vojtěch of the ANO party) arrived late and in a token amount — just one thousand packs. Babiš's own response is a far cry from his earlier bold statements: in a video address on social media, the prime minister simply said "we're working on it, we're working on it," assured the public that the minister was intensively tackling the problem — and announced he was leaving for vacation. Blame for the shortage is now being pinned on supplier disruptions and budget cuts made by the previous ruling coalition.

How Patients Are Coping

The state has limited distribution to one pack per patient and allowed pharmacies to split blister packs into smaller portions. Meanwhile, women are passing along their remaining pills to one another or traveling to Poland and Germany, where — paradoxically — tamoxifen is sold without any restrictions.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz