What does the Ministry of Health say about the plan to reserve rare drugs?

Recently, information about botulinum poisoning cases in Ho Chi Minh City has received public attention. The issue that has received much public attention is the lack of botulinum antidotes to promptly treat patients.

Responding to the issue of ensuring the supply of rare drugs and drugs with limited supply on May 27, Mr. Le Viet Dung - Deputy Director of the Department of Drug Administration ( Ministry of Health ) informed the press that, implementing the direction of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Health has been urgently implementing the establishment of centers for storing rare drugs and drugs with limited supply, with the plan to establish 3-6 centers nationwide.

“The number of drugs in the reserve list is about 15-20 types and botulinum is also one of the drugs in this list,” said Mr. Dung.

Event - What does the Ministry of Health say about the plan to reserve rare drugs? — Mr. Le Viet Dung - Deputy Director of the Department of Drug Administration (Ministry of Health ).

In addition, Mr. Dung also informed that the Drug Administration is also meeting with the World Health Organization (WHO) to study the WHO's storage mechanism and how to have a connection between the storage of rare drugs, drugs with low supply in Vietnam as well as neighboring countries in the region, as well as WHO's warehouses.

Experts also said that currently, the legal basis for rare drugs is basically complete. Therefore, the Drug Administration has issued documents requesting medical examination and treatment facilities nationwide to be proactive in building demand, forecasting the epidemic situation, as well as estimating the necessary quantity and purchasing drugs to ensure adequate response to treatment needs, especially for rare drugs.

Regarding the recent cases of Botulinum poisoning in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Dung said that immediately after the Ministry of Health received the report from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health on May 21 and Cho Ray Hospital on May 23, following the direction of the ministry's leaders, the Ministry of Health immediately contacted domestic and foreign drug suppliers and WHO to have medicine available as soon as possible.

WHO announced that there were still 6 vials of the drug in the global warehouse in Switzerland and immediately sent an expert to transport the drug to Vietnam on the same day. By May 24, the drug had been transported to Vietnam and the Ministry of Health immediately transferred it to medical facilities to treat patients.

To prevent botulinum poisoning, the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) recommends:

In production and processing, raw materials that ensure food safety must be used and hygiene requirements in the production process must be strictly followed. In canned food production, strict sterilization must be followed;

Only use food products and food ingredients with clear origin and source. Absolutely do not use canned products that are expired, swollen, flattened, deformed, rusty, not intact, or have unusual odors or colors.

Eat cooked food and drink boiled water. Prioritize eating freshly prepared and cooked foods.

Do not pack foods tightly and leave them for long periods of time without freezing. For fermented foods, pack or cover them tightly in the traditional way (such as pickles, bamboo shoots, pickled eggplants, etc.) to ensure they are sour and salty. When the food is no longer sour, it should not be eaten.

When symptoms of botulinum poisoning appear, go to the nearest medical facility immediately for timely diagnosis and treatment .

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