'Only licensed medics to dispense'
Thabo Mokgola
8 July 2004
The Department of Health has urged the public to ensure that doctors or other health professionals they visit are licensed to dispense before accepting their medicine.
This follows a ruling by the Pretoria High Court which dismissed an application by the National Convention on Dispensing to have the regulations (under the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act) on dispensing of medicine declared unconstitutional.
The ruling means that from last Saturday health professionals who do not have a dispensing license are not allowed to supply medication to patients.
"Where a doctor is not licensed, a prescription can be taken to the nearest pharmacy to get medicine. Public health facilities can also be used to access healthcare," said the department.
The department also appealed to doctors who want to dispense to complete the dispensing course and comply with other elements of the regulations for them to obtain licences.
"The department has increased its capacity to process applications and it is ready for an increase in the number of applications that may need to be finalised," it said.
The ruling, the department said, was a major victory for its effort to ensure the quality of dispensing services and supply of safe medicine, adding that this was also a victory for patients and the general public that deserve quality health services.
"Once again, the Medicines Act has stood the test of our judicial system. We are confident that despite opposition from self-centred interest groups, we will be able to achieve the objectives of this Act - to make affordable quality medicine available to all South Africans," said the health department.
After the National Convention on Dispensing legally challenged Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang by refusing to apply for dispensing licenses, the Pretoria High Court deferred the deadline from 2 May to a month later.
The matter was
moved again in the same court to 2 June, after which the court ruled on the matter last Friday.
Source: BuaNews
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