Approximately 21,000 ampoules of intravenous Phenobarbital, a drug for severe hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) treatment, have arrived in Vietnam after a supply interruption, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health informed on Wednesday.

The shipment is expected to supplement currently available drugs for the treatment of severe HFMD cases at three pediatric hospitals and the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health had earlier received 1,000 vials of Gamma-globulin for the treatment of HFMD.

Phenobarbital supplies were disrupted at the end of 2020, causing difficulties in HFMD treatment.

A professional council created by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health had earlier reached a consensus on choosing other available drugs, including Diazepam and Midazolam, as temporary substitutes while waiting for domestic pharmaceutical enterprises to find supplies from other countries.

The department also proposed that the Ministry of Health’s Drug Administration of Vietnam provide support in seeking suppliers to meet hospital demands.

The Drug Administration of Vietnam on June 22, 2020 announced that Daihan Pharm Co. Ltd. would stop producing Danotan, whose main ingredient is Phenobarbital, and requested that pharmaceutical importers contact foreign partners to secure alternatives.

On February 1 this year, Central Pharmaceutical Company No. 1 reported that it had found a supplier of Phenobarbital.

The company was later granted a license to import 21,000 ampoules of intravenous Phenobarbital from Bangladesh’s Incepta Pharmaceutical Company.

However, it quite a while to complete import procedures as Phenobarbital is a psychotropic drug which requires special control and an export license from the exporting country’s competent authority.

As a result, the batch was not shipped to Vietnam until July 31.

The Drug Administration of Vietnam has also licensed Daihan Pharm Co. Ltd. to import materials for the production of intravenous Phenobarbital.

Ho Chi Minh City recorded more than 7,800 HFMD cases from January 1 to July 14, including 2,370 patients who were treated at hospitals and 212 critical cases, according to a report the municipal Department of Health sent to the Ministry of Health.

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