Coronavirus and the fight led by the FAMHP: rigorous work to ensure each patient receives the treatment they need

date: 22/06/2020

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the FAMHP teams have been working relentlessly to support hospitals and pharmacies facing difficulties in securing supplies of medicinal products. Here is an overview of the measures put in place by the FAMHP to guarantee stocks of medicinal products in Belgium.

Priority: guarantee availability of medicinal products

Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, the FAMHP has been keeping a close eye on stocks of medicinal products used in the fight against COVID-19. As some of these medicinal products are essential for treating patients with chronic diseases (e.g., lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or HIV), the FAMHP introduced measures back in March to guarantee the availability of these essential medicinal products: quarantine of stocks, limited prescription.

FAMHP experts have worked tirelessly to establish strategic stocks of medicinal products, find therapeutic alternatives, control the distribution of essential products and ensure the rational use of essential medicinal products. Thanks to this ceaseless work, every week, hospitals across the country received the stocks of medicinal products needed to fight COVID-19.

Thousands of patients treated

More than twenty different medicinal products have been acquired by the State to accumulate the so-called "strategic stock" and meet the needs of hospitals. The quantities acquired made it possible to treat between 4 000 and 77 000 patients, depending on the medicinal product. These medicinal products have been distributed to 116 Belgian hospitals with intensive care units in which COVID-19 patients were hospitalised. These medicinal products have also been distributed to certain pharmacies and care homes for palliative care. The FAMHP was therefore able to ensure that all patients have been able to receive the medicinal products they required, regardless of their place of treatment.

Helping hospitals 24/7

To ensure no hospital was ever in need, an emergency aid service was made permanently available to resolve temporary shortages encountered by hospitals within 24 hours, providing urgent medicinal products to hospitalised or ambulatory patients.

As of early June 2020, the emergency aid service had recorded and resolved just over 500 requests.

Success through extensive collaboration

None of the work carried out by the FAMHP would have been possible without the support and hard work of all the actors in the field. The FAMHP teams would like to thank all of these partners for their indispensable cooperation in managing the COVID-19 crisis.

More information

You can find all information from the FAMHP concerning the measures taken during COVID-19 on our website.

Last updated on 01/07/2020