MEDIA STATEMENT
BY THE
INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
MCC & MRA in shambles maintains IFP
|
IFP PRESS
STATEMENT RELEASED BY: 24th June 2008 IFP spokesperson on Health, Dr Ruth Rabinowitz MP today said: "The state of the body jointly comprising the Medicine Control Council (MCC) and Medical Regulatory Authority (MRA) is indicative of the utterly lopsided priorities of the Department of Health. For too long this body, which has the critical role of checking all medicines for safety, efficacy and quality has been left to dawdle, to fiddle and to literally drown under a load of work which is not being handled with any degree of efficiency or accountability." "The backlog of unregistered medicines for which registration has been applied, is currently 98% and has risen annually. The budget of the MCC and MRA was overspent by 100%. The latter amounted to R10 million overspend and the former to R2.4 million." "Traditional medicines remain unregulated, complementary medicines likewise. The ruling against Dr Rath for promoting and selling his super vitamins should not have come from the courts, but from an MCC that was 'doing its job'". "The IFP calls for a full investigation into the reasons for the hopeless miscalculation in the budget of these bodies before measures already in the pipeline are adopted to restructure the MCC and MRA. Clearly more capacity, more accountability and a total overview of policy objectives are required." "Ever since the failed attempt to introduce the SAMDRRA Bill in 1997 (to which President Mandela was accused of not applying his mind in a court judgment against the Bill) this parlous situation has prevailed. Therefore, both restructuring and responsible regulation of medical devices, complementary medicines and African traditional medicines is an urgent priority of this Government and far more important than price regulations in the Private sector."
|