On 28 April 2020, the AFMPS has issued a Decision extending the measures provided in its Decision of 1 April 2020 on various urgent measures concerning specific medicinal products to combat shortages in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic by one month.
The deadline has now been extended from 2 May 2020 until 1 June 2020.
The Decision of 1 April 2020 provided a list of medicinal products and raw materials used in the treatment of COVID-19 and related measures intended to restrict the export and distribution of these products.
These measures were later reviewed by the consolidated version of the Decision of 8 April 2020. The list of medicinal products was revised and export restrictions were relaxed.
The revised measures are now being extended for a further period.
According to the AFMPS, the situation in hospitals remains precarious despite the fact that expert groups consider that the peak of the pandemic has been reached.
The extension Decision provides that the medical products and raw materials listed in the Annex of the Decision of 1 April 2020 as revised by Decision of 8 April are still difficult to obtain. The medium-term availability of these products cannot be guaranteed.
Furthermore, current stocks of medicinal products intended for treatment of the symptoms of COVID-19 or treating affected patients, such as anesthetics and muscle relaxants for ventilated patients, are being closely monitored by the AFMPS.
The monitoring activity is based on the current number of patients treated, the number of doses of individual medicinal products required to treat the patients over the next four weeks, and available stocks of these products.
Authored by Elisabethann Wright and Vicky Vlontzou
