Agency for Medicines is not hindering vaccine procurement, ready for controls

(Patria) - The president of the trade union of the BiH Agency for Medicines, Ramo Rustemović, reacted to a statement by the Minister of Health of Sarajevo Canton, Haris Vranić, who questioned the efficiency of the BiH Agency for Medicines in the vaccine procurement process. The trade union president finds any activity in which authorities at any level seek an alternative to the BiH Agency for Medicines, which has a state-of-the-art laboratory in Sarajevo capable of adequately responding to any request for drug control, including vaccines, incomprehensible. The trade union reminded Minister Vranić that this laboratory is the only one authorized by the BiH Law on Medicines to perform drug quality control.

- The control laboratory is located at Titova Street no. 9, Hygiene Institute building. It is a laboratory that is a member of the OMCL network of European laboratories. As such, it operates according to ISO 17025 standards. It is a member of EDQM, the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines, and our teams directly participate in these expert bodies, Minister Vranić was informed.

The Agency rejects all allegations that could indicate that this institution is hindering the procurement of vaccines for any part of BiH. Although they have staffing problems resulting from poor policies, they are ready to respond to every request and all needs. This was demonstrated in the case of vaccine procurement for Republika Srpska, whose quality was confirmed.

The trade union invited Minister Vranić to cross the street and visit the laboratory to see what a gem BiH has. They urged him and all others concerned about the health of citizens to help strengthen the Agency for Medicines, from which staff are leaving because they are the worst paid in the healthcare sector.