Food and Drug Administration deploys Ya'an relief work

On April 22, the State Food and Drug Administration issued a notice requesting the food and drug supervision and administration departments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government to strengthen the supervision of relief medicines and medical devices to ensure the quality and safety of the necessary medical equipment for disaster relief.

The notice pointed out that after the Lushan earthquake in Sichuan Province, the State Food and Drug Administration established a leading group for earthquake relief work, launched a first-level emergency response mechanism, mobilized and deployed food and drug supervision systems, and fully supported the earthquake disaster relief work. The food and drug supervision and administration departments of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) shall, in accordance with the requirements of the General Administration of Customs, carry forward the spirit of one party’s difficulties and the support of the eight parties, strengthen the organization and leadership of the earthquake relief work, and prepare for the people and finance at any time while doing a good job in the supervision work within the jurisdiction. And other aspects provide support for the disaster area. The food and drug supervision and management department of Sichuan Province should, under the unified leadership of local party committees and governments, regard earthquake relief as the primary task of the current work, effectively strengthen the supervision of disaster-relief drug use, and cooperate with relevant departments to ensure the supply of drug and medical equipment.

The notice requires that the supervision and administration of disaster relief medicines should be effectively carried out. The food and drug supervision and administration departments of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) must focus on intensifying the supervision and inspection of disaster-requiring urgently needed drugs and medical device manufacturing enterprises to ensure the quality and safety of the disaster-relief medical devices. Sichuan food and drug supervision and management departments should overcome difficulties, give full play to the role of rapid inspection techniques, increase the intensity of testing for disaster relief drugs, strengthen the supervision and management of the effective period of disaster relief drugs, and prevent unqualified or expired drugs from flowing into the affected areas. It was found that the illegal production and sale of counterfeit drugs and other illegal activities should be severely investigated and dealt with in accordance with the law to ensure that the disaster relief work is carried out in an orderly manner.

The circular called for strengthening the supervision of donated medical devices. The food and drug supervision and administration departments of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) shall, according to the information on the urgently needed medical equipment for disaster relief, obtain information on the number of donated enterprises within their respective jurisdictions, and guide the targeted donation. The donor shall be responsible for the quality and safety of the donated drug. The donated medical device must be a product that has been approved for production or import and meets quality standards. The effective period must be more than 6 months. The donated drug and medical equipment must be accompanied by the factory inspection report; the medical equipment donated by non-drug machinery production and operation enterprises must be legally sourced and attached with an inspection report. In order to reduce the burden of rescue work in the disaster area, the food and drug administrations of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) shall take the initiative to conduct a unified examination of the donated drugs and drugs, focusing on the inspection of sources, names, batch numbers, quantities, directions, and inspection reports, and strictly control quality and safety.

The notification requires cooperation with the provision of medical equipment supply protection. The State Food and Drug Administration has established a green channel for urgently needed drug and medical device approval for earthquake relief, accelerating the inspection, testing and evaluation of relevant products, adjusting the time limit for the issuance of urgently needed blood products and vaccines for earthquake relief, and speeding up the approval of ensuring product quality. Issued. The food and drug supervision and administration departments of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) shall timely take control of the production and storage of emergency-requiring medical devices in their jurisdictions, and make preparations for supporting the affected areas at all times. The Sichuan Food and Drug Administration shall actively cooperate with the relevant departments to ensure the supply of disaster relief medicines, keep abreast of the inventory and use of disaster relief medicines, and provide a list of categories and quantities of medicines needed for disaster relief.

The circular emphasized that the vast majority of cadres and workers in the national food and drug regulatory system, especially party members and leading cadres, should give full play to exemplary role and take disaster relief as the most important task, overcome difficulties, fulfill due diligence, and do their utmost to do a good job in earthquake relief. Work to ensure the safe and effective use of drugs in the disaster area and firmly safeguard the vital interests of the people in the disaster area.