[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.