"Belbiopharm" enterprises purchased raw materials worth $2 million to prevent drug shortages.

December 4, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Enterprises of "Belbiopharm" have already purchased raw materials worth $2 million to prevent a shortage of medicines in case of another outbreak of acute respiratory infections and influenza, the chairman of the concern "Belbiopharm" Mikhail Cherepok told a BELTA correspondent today. He took part in a meeting of the working group on the construction of the pharmaceutical enterprise "BelVitunipharm" in Vitebsk. Pharmaceutical enterprises have exceeded the planned production volumes of the most in-demand drugs for November-December. For November-December, supplies were set at 1 million packages of "Remantadine" and 3.6 million packages of oxolinic ointment. In November, more than 50% of the drugs were shipped, and the rest will be delivered in December. However, as the interlocutor emphasized, this is a multiple excess of production for these items. "We have produced a four-year supply of "Remantadine" and more than a two-year supply of oxolinic ointment," he assured. Assessing the work of pharmaceutical companies during the peak of illness, the head of the concern rated them "good" on a five-point scale. "The current epidemic peak has revealed problematic issues," admitted Mikhail Cherepok. In his opinion, it is necessary to create a unified logistics center in the republic, where information about the regions' needs for certain drugs would be accumulated and from where they would be supplied to pharmacies. This would allow for the even distribution of drugs and management of the situation in case of a shortage, believes the head of the concern. According to Mikhail Cherepok, the rush demand for antiviral drugs this autumn was caused by a lack of information. "People need to be explained that oxolinic ointment and "Remantadine" are not a panacea, not the only remedy. It so happened that two or three drugs received huge publicity, while there are other analogues," he said. -0-