- Home
- Blogs
Belgium: Covid-19 coronavirus: measures to combat medicine shortages extended again
Browse this blog post
Related news and insights
Blog Post: 29 March 2023
Drug shortages: Belgian Royal Decree adopted which sets conditions for export authorisation
Blog Post: 08 March 2023
Blog Post: 28 November 2022
Blog Post: 02 August 2022
Compulsory licensing for expensive medicines – new report published in Belgium
Since April 2020, the Belgian government has taken measures to avoid medicine shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic. These measures have subsequently been revised and extended in duration four times.
The measures have now been further extended until 28 October 2020 by a Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) decision dated 25 September 2020, because the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic experienced a major resurgence in Belgium in September. The number of infections and hospitalisations are rising severely.
The measures are aimed at controlling stocks of medicinal products used in the treatment of Covid-19 patients. The rules on quotas for wholesalers and distribution between hospitals remain in place. The lists of medicinal products and raw materials subject to controlled distribution drawn up by the FAMHP, in Annex I and II to the decision remain unchanged.
The FAMHP is expected to continue to update these measures monthly as the Covid-19 pandemic evolves. Depending on the evolution of the spread of the virus, additional measures may be imposed.
A prior version of this post was originally published by the same authors in Practical Law – Life Sciences, November 2020 Issue (Thomson Reuters).