Brazil’s health regulator relaxes rules for oxygen cylinders to counter shortages

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Facing the risk of collapse in the health system, the National Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) relaxed the rules about oxygen cylinders.

The four measures announced by the agency last Friday night aim to avoid the shortage of medicines, oxygen and equipment used in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

ANVISA simplified the processes for importing equipment and medicines and changed the permission for filling medical gas – now it will be allowed to use industrial cylinders to fill oxygen. The emergency and exceptional measures were published in an extra edition of the Diário Oficial da União (Federal Gazette)

Anesthetics, sedatives, neuromuscular blockers and other drugs used in the intubation of ICU patients will also have simplified registration, and will only be marketed after notification to the agency. The process of distribution of injectable drugs was also facilitated, in order to bring more agility in the population’s access to the so-called intubation kit.