Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the war in Iran on medicine supply chains.

The Department is closely monitoring the Middle East conflict to assess any potential impact on United Kingdom medical supply chains through disruptions to manufacturing and logistics.

We have limited direct exposure to the Middle East for medical products, and we maintain well‑established contingency arrangements to manage medicine and medical device supply disruptions where these occur. These can include coordination of mutual aid, work to identify alternative products, alternative clinical practices, regulatory easements, and/or use of the Express Freight Service which can provide bespoke global logistics services in the event of critical supply disruption.

The Department is not aware of supply issues impacting codeine and co-codamol as a result of the conflict. The Department is aware of supply constraints affecting co-codamol 30 milligram/500 milligram tablets, which pre-date the conflict and which are due to manufacturing issues. These are in limited supply until early July 2026. We have engaged with National Health Service specialist clinicians and issued comprehensive guidance on how to manage patients during this time and advise on available alternative preparations.