Brazilian health agencies urge clinics to tighten medical supply storage

Brazil’s medical‑product market is expanding at an annual rate of about 11.5%, increasing the volume of drugs and supplies that flow to clinics, offices and home‑care settings. Because many of these items are stored outside the controlled environments of large hospitals, improper temperature, humidity, light exposure and lack of monitoring can degrade product stability, threaten therapeutic effectiveness and compromise patient safety.

The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) sets the storage criteria across the supply chain. Kátia Paula de Geus Zardo, technical pharmacist for Magazine Médica, stresses that digital commerce has broadened market reach but also demands stricter control over suppliers, transport, documentation and environmental monitoring. She identifies the most common errors as inadequate temperature and humidity control, exposure to light, unmonitored storage locations and poor stock organization.

To mitigate risks, clinics are advised to implement continuous environmental monitoring, maintain accurate records of storage conditions, train staff regularly, procure products only from approved vendors, and adopt standard operating procedures (POPs) that cover all stages from receipt to use. These practices aim to ensure that medicines and sensitive medical supplies remain effective and safe for patients.