[Emergency reserve of life-saving anti-infective drugs].

OBJECTIVES

Problems with importing non-registered medicines for treating rare life-threatening infectious diseases led to establishment of the Emergency Anti-Infective Drug Reserve (EAIDR) for the Czech Republic.

METHODS

Thirteen anti-infective drugs are included in the project: antisera against rabies virus, varicella-zoster virus, and botulinum toxin; antituberculosis drugs (intravenous rifampicin and isoniazid; capreomycin, cycloserine, and clofazimine); antiparasitics (intravenous quinine, primaquine, meglumine antimoniate, and praziquantel); and pentamidine. These drugs are imported according to the Czech drug legislation (specific drug availability programs). Realization: The project, approved by the Czech Ministry of Health in September 2013, was started in January 2014. The anti-infective drugs sufficient for 2-4 patients are permanently available in the Toxicological Information Center (TIC) in Prague. The medicines can be applied in any hospital throughout the Czech Republic within several hours.

CONCLUSIONS

All but three drugs are available at present; the remaining ones will be imported after new batches of these drugs are released.