In order for patients to be protected and safe in crisis situations, the national interests and the stability and continuity of the health care system will be realized in the foreseeable future, the Latvian National Drug Supply Association (LNZAA) calls on the Ministry of Economy (ME) to take a leading role in the creation of a system of stockpiles of medicines and medical devices intended for patients . The letter with such an invitation was sent by the LNZAA to the EM.
Valuing highly what the Ministry of Economy has done so far in the field of national security, especially the implementation of the new system for storing national oil product safety reserves, LNZAA has taken as a positive signal the readiness expressed by Economy Minister Viktoras Valaiņas recently at the conference “Health as security” to also create reserves of medicines and medical devices stocks for crisis situations as one of the ministry’s priorities. Already in March of this year, in the letter sent to public organizations “About the creation of a national drug reserve system”, the Ministry of Education has confirmed its readiness to provide the necessary support in the creation of an effective national drug reserve system, as well as to organize a working group in which non-governmental organizations would also be involved, LNZAA informs.
At the same time, the association points out that the Ministry of Health (MOH) has been demonstrating its inability to create a functioning reserve system of medicines and medical devices since 2022, thus exposing the life and health of patients to a serious security risk. For example, in Estonia, in 2022, work on creating national stockpiles of medicines and medical devices began, and unlike Latvia, in Estonia this system of stockpiling has already been implemented and is fully functional, the association emphasizes. In Estonia, the work on creating stocks of veterinary medicines also continues, while in Latvia the situation with stocks of medicines and medical devices has not changed from 2022. LNZAA estimates that the long-term inability of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to solve security issues of vital importance to the country indicates either the ministry’s lack of interest in solving identified problems, or the lack of human resources and competences.
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Tags: Medicines Supply Association calls Ministry Finance leading role creation medicine stock system
