The General Administrator of the AFMPS issued a Decision on 1 April 2020 introducing urgent measures regarding specific medicinal products used in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The purpose of the decision is to prevent shortages in the event of a sudden increase in infected patients. The intended purpose of the decision is to address the uneven distribution of medicinal products that are indispensable for the COVID-19 epidemic by introducing measures of strategic stockpiling and controlled distribution.
The decision provides that, in the absence of a medicinal product suitable for treatment of COVID-19, all medicinal products that have the potential to be effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, such as those based on chloroquinephosphate and hydroxychloroquine, should be considered as therapeutically essential. Medicinal products such antibiotics and curariform medicines used to sedate intubated patients with COVID-1 are also considered therapeutically necessary despite the fact that they have no antiviral effect. The Decision includes three Annexes, which contain extensive lists of medicinal products used intensively during the epidemic. To ensure the continuity of their supply the Decision provides that:
The Decision allows, however, for certain derogations. These include:
Authored by Elisabethann Wright and Vicky Vlontzou
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