Dealing with Future Pandemics

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 11:07 am on 1 July 2020.

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Photo of Rhianon Passmore Rhianon Passmore Labour 11:07, 1 July 2020

First Minister, it is being reported today that the US Government has secured virtually all the stocks of one of the two drugs that are shown to currently help COVID-19 patients. The White House said that it had bought up more than 500,000 courses of remdesivir, an antiviral that trials suggest helps some patients spend less time in hospital. This includes all of the supplies that will be manufactured this month, as well as 90 per cent of those due in August and September. Such unilateral deals obviously have implications for patients in Islwyn and across Wales, so what assessment has the Welsh Government made of the effective supply of medicines in this global pandemic?