

There are at least nine bills still to be debated by the House before they can potentially be passed and legislated. This is not including a number of bills that the previous administration failed to finalise.

One the most crucial bills before the House is the Medicine and Related Substance Amendment Bill. This bill paves the way for a new entity to replace the Medicines Control Council. The proposed new entity – the South African Health Products Regulatory Agency – will supposedly regulate sectors that have until now been unregulated, such as medical devices and complementary medicines.

It is hoped the new agency will deal with the huge backlog of medicines waiting to be registered and regulate the estimated 155000 vitamin and herbal products that have not been regulated, either as food or medicines. The bill was introduced on February 26 by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

Another health bill before parliament is the Medical Innovation Bill, introduced by the late Mario Oriani-Ambrosini on February 19 as a private members bill.

See full article at TimesLive.co.za