The Ministry of Health held a press conference today, Monday 17 January, to inform the public about the administration of the antiviral drug Molnupiravir (Lagevrio) in Cyprus.
In his welcome address, the Minister of Health, Michalis Hadjipandela, expressed his satisfaction for the actions that led to Cyprus being one of the first countries in the European Union to proceed with the purchase and distribution of Molnupiravir, stating: "Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Ministry of Health has been aiming for an effective response to the coronavirus, looking forward to protecting the population and our vulnerable groups. I want to assure you that, as the Ministry of Health, we are constantly vigilant about new vaccines and new treatments against Covid-19 and we are actively involved in all partnerships to ensure that new vaccines and medicines against Covid-19 are available as early as possible."
Subsequently, the Deputy Director of the Ministry's Pharmaceutical Services, Dr. Elena Panagiotopoulou, presented the data on Molnupiravir, describing its mechanism of action and efficacy and analyzing the groups for whom its administration is recommended based on risk factors for serious disease and explaining its prescribing process. Dr. Panagiotopoulou reported important information about the intake, adverse reactions and population groups for which there is a contraindication, and explained the "Yellow Card" adverse reaction reporting system, for careful and detailed reporting of these symptoms to the Pharmaceutical Services of the Ministry of Health.
This was followed by a discussion with representatives of the media to answer questions. Dr Panagiotopoulou pointed out that Molnupiravir, although still in the licensing process, has received a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency in the context of making it available on an emergency basis, given the protection it has been shown to offer through the clinical trials conducted. In particular, Molnupiravir was shown to reduce the risk of serious illness or death in people affected by Covid-19 disease, from 14.1% in people taking placebo to 7.3% in people taking Molnupiravir, out of a total of 775 participants.
(AF)
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