The FAMHP launches PharmaStatus, the new online application that collects information about the availability of medicines in Belgium and makes it public. Current information will help patients, doctors, pharmacists and the pharmaceutical industry to limit the impact of unavailable medicines.
As recommended by the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE), a new step in the fight against anti-microbial resistance has been taken: the 2019 edition of the Belgian Antibiotic Policy Coordination Committee (BAPCOC)’s antibiotics guide is available online on the Belgian Pharmacotherapy Information Centre (CBIP) website.
The fourth #MedSafetyWeek runs from November 25 to 29, 2019. Competent authorities from all over the worlds are participating in a social media campaign to draw attention to the importance of reporting side effects of medicines. This year, the campaign focuses on possible interactions when various medicines are used at the same time.
In 2019, operation Pangea took on a new form. This operation focused on information collection, analysis and communication. For this twelfth edition, that took place from June 2018 to June 2019, the FAMHP provided the necessary data. Pangea is coordinated by INTERPOL and is specifically designed to intercept illegal and counterfeit medicinal products and devices. http://www.medicaments-par-internet.be
How can health authorities such as the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP), in cooperation with the FPS Public Health, Safety of the Food Chain and Environment (SPF Public Health), the National Institute for Illness and Invalidity Insurance (RIZIV) and the Federal Knowledge Centre for Health Care (KCE) involve patients more (pro)actively and put them in a more central position throughout the complete development cycle of innovative medications?
From January 2020 there is a new nomenclature applicable for manufacturers reporting an incident with a medical product to the FAMHP. The FAMHP advises manufacturers of medical devices to already change their internal codes to the new nomenclature codes.
The pharmacist can now only deliver medications up to three months after the prescription date, with the exception of when the prescriber indicates a date of delivery. For reimbursed medications, the reimbursement date is also three months from the date on which the prescriber issued the prescription.
Early October 2019, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), together with the European medicines authorities, including the FAMHP, asked marketing authorisation holders to perform a risk assessment on the presence of nitrosamines as a precaution. The results of these risk assessments can now be reported.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) published the ninth ESVAC report (European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption) about the sale of antibacterial agents for veterinary use in 2017.
