Open AccessHealthcare risk management during the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic in the European Union: The guaranteed access to medicines
Author(s) -
Silvia Enríquez-Fernández,
Carlos del Castillo-Rodríguez
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of risk and safety in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.306
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1878-6847
pISSN - 0924-6479
DOI - 10.3233/jrs-200076
Subject(s) - pandemic , european union , precautionary principle , pharmacy , health care , business , population , economic shortage , risk management , economic growth , covid-19 , development economics , environmental health , disease , medicine , international trade , infectious disease (medical specialty) , finance , economics , family medicine , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , pathology , government (linguistics) , biology
BACKGROUND: The disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly spread escalating the situation to an international pandemic. The absence of a vaccine or an efficient treatment with enough scientific evidence against the virus has generated a healthcare crisis of great magnitude. The precautionary principle justifies the selection of the recommended medicines, whose demand has increased dramatically. METHODS: we carried out an analysis of the healthcare risk management and the main measures taken by the state healthcare authorities to a possible shortage of medicines in the most affected countries of the European Union: Spain, France, Italy and Germany. RESULTS: the healthcare risk management in the European Union countries is carried out based on the precautionary principle, as we do not have enough scientific evidence to recommend a specific treatment against the new virus. Some measures aimed to guarantee the access to medicines for the population has been adopted in the most affected countries by the novel coronavirus. CONCLUSIONS: in Spain, Italy and Germany, some rules based on the precautionary principle were pronounced in order to guarantee the supply of medicines, while in France, besides that, the competences of pharmacists in pharmacy offices have been extended to guarantee the access to medicines for the population.