Military Pharmacy: A Tool to Support Civil Society

Abstract

The partnership between the Spanish Military Pharmacy Corps and the civil society has increased in the last twenty years, when the two million smallpox vaccines acquired by the Spanish Ministry of Health were stored at the “Centro Militar de Farmacia de la Defensa” (Military Centre of Defence Pharmacy). In 2009, collaboration continued with the manufacture of oseltamivir tablets and the storage of more than five million packages of antivirals drugs during the H1N1 pandemic. In 2014, due to the possibility of a nuclear risk situation, an agreement was signed with the Spanish Ministry of Home Affairs for the manufacture and supply of Potassium Iodide. During the COVID pandemic, as a consequence of being declared the Alert State, the capacities of the Spanish Military Pharmacy were made available to Operation Balmis. Collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Health has been strengthened with the implementation of the Royal Decree which determines the application of the criteria and standards for the guarantee and rational use of medicines and healthcare products in the Spanish Armed Forces, by authorizing the Spanish Military Pharmacy to manufacture and distribute medicines in exceptional circumstances. With regard to the storage and custody of the medicines and health products stock, it is a strength that the Spanish Military Pharmacy has available the Military Centre of Defence Pharmacy, Military Pharmacies and Military Pharmaceutical Warehouses deployed throughout the national territory. Keywords: Spanish Military Pharmacy; smallpox vaccines; Potassium Iodide; Operation Balmis; pandemic