European Biosafety Network roundtable on prevention of exposure to hazardous drugs and reprotoxins in Belgium and Europe (25 March 2022)

Summary

This blog provides an overview of a roundtable webinar organised by the European Biosafety Network (EBN), which focused on the need to prevent exposure to hazardous medicinal products (HMPs) and other substances. It was chaired by Gitta Vanpeborgh, Belgian Federal Deputy, and included attendees from across Europe.

Content

The webinar featured a number of presentations:

1. France Duvivier, Vice President of the Belgian Oncology Pharmacist Practitioners (BOPP) presented the results of a survey of Belgian pharmacists conducted in 2020
2. Daniel Schuermans, Vice President of the Belgian Association of Nurses spoke about the changes to the European Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers against the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work and what this looks like in practice in Belgium
3. Ian Lindsley, Secretary of the European Biosafety Network, gave a presentation outlining the changes in the Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic substances Directive (CMRD), the work of ANSES in France on a list of HMPs and the development and publication of new EU guidelines on handling HMPs
4. Eline Versheure, Medical Faculty at KU Leuven, provided an overview of the unintended exposure to antineoplastic agents in a Belgian context
5. Marijke Quaghebeur, Clinical Nurse Specialist at UZ Gent, gave a presentation on the root location of contamination spread

To conclude the roundtable, the chair took attendees through the recommendations made in the recently published EBN consensus document, which focused on:

• Training and learning
• Prevention and PPE
• Aftercare
• Medical control
• Guidelines
• Department of employment