Availability of antidotes in Moroccan hospitals: a national survey.

ABSTRACT

AIM: The lack of availability of antidotes is a challenge for hospitals all over the world. The objective of our study was to investigate the availability of antidotes in Moroccan hospitals. METHODS: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted from November 2018 to April 2019. The questionnaire was sent to 25 hospitals in order to investigate the availability of 42 selected antidotes based on the International Programme on Chemical Safety list. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 68%. Of the 42 selected antidotes, 38 (90.5%) were available depending on the hospitals included in the study. We found a strong correlation between the availability of antidotes and hospital bed capacity, and logistic regression analysis revealed that bed capacity is the only factor strongly associated with higher antidote stock levels. Some essential antidotes such as digoxin-specific antibody, protamine sulfate, flumazenil and glucagon were unavailable in many of the small- and medium-sized hospitals, and methylene blue, sodium nitroprussiate, Prussian blue and anti-snake venom were absent in all of the hospitals. CONCLUSION: Despite the great efforts that have been made to improve the availability of antidotes in Morocco, some of these vital products are still lacking in Moroccan hospitals.