39% of residents are living in poverty.
Calpol is the most shoplifted item in London, a new report has found.
The increase in thefts in the Tower Hamlets area has been described as "utterly devastating".
Around 39% of residents in the area are living in poverty, according to the
BBC.
Residents are stealing because of the cost of living crisis. They're going to desperate measures to get what they need for their families, including medicine like Calpol.
Calpol was revealed as the number one shoplifted item in the Safer Neighbourhood Team report.
"Desperation has led to an increase in theft. Shoplifting of essential items and medicine has increased. Theft of essential products for babies is also on the rise."
"It shows how much the cost-of-living crisis is hurting our residents when they cannot afford basic medicines for their children."
Parents have been unable to buy Calpol in Ireland in recent months.
Parents have been struggling to find medicine like Calpol and Nuerofen for their children for months.
Pharmacies have been struggling with the demand amid one of the country's worst flu seasons.
They are now finding it hard to restock common medicines like cough bottles and paracetamol.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, pharmacist Kathy Maher said;
"Because of the sharp increase in respiratory illness that we saw in the weeks up to Christmas, we know this will continue for the next four to six weeks."
She explained, "We are seeing so many over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, and the majority of cough bottles – particularly for dry coughs – we can’t get."
Maher also revealed that certain antibiotics have also been hard to get.
She said, "particular antibiotics or steroids to reduce inflammation of the chest are really hard to get at the minute."
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