With the WHO's support, some doses of Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent (BAT) have arrived in HCM City in response to several cases of botulism poisoning occurring lately. — Photo courtesy of the health ministry

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health has been working on a plan to establish three to six centres for storing rare medicines and drugs in limited supply in accordance with the Prime Minister’s direction, according to Deputy Director of the ministry's Drug Administration of Việt Nam (DAV) Lê Việt Dũng.

The administration has had meetings with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to study the organisation's storage mechanism, setting up a connection between Việt Nam, neighbouring countries, and WHO repositories for the storage of rare medicines and drugs in limited supply.

Dũng said his agency had asked medical examination and treatment facilities across the country to be proactive in assessing demand and forecasting epidemics, as well as estimating the quantity of medicines that need to be purchased in order to meet treatment demand, especially for rare medicines.

Regarding cases of botulism poisoning recorded recently in HCM City, the DAV official said after receiving relevant reports from the municipal Department of Health and Chợ Rẫy Hospital, the health ministry immediately contacted domestic and foreign drug suppliers and the WHO for support in finding medicines to treat the cases as soon as possible.

The health ministry has proposed establishing storage centres for rare drugs in socio-economic regions and setting up a mechanism for the expired rare drugs.

The health ministry has advised people to be cautious by not preserving and using food that has been processed for a long time, to avoid the risk of poisoning.

It recommends that when symptoms of botulism poisoning appear, it is necessary to immediately go to nearest medical establishments for timely examination and treatment. — VNS