Fed: Australian get faster access to medicine thanks to guide

AAP General News (Australia)
12-13-1999
Fed: Australian get faster access to medicine thanks to guide

CANBERRA, Dec 13 AAP - Australians should have access to vital medicines and medical
equipment more quickly, thanks to a new guide launched today by the federal government.

Released by government's main regulatory watchdog for medicines, the Therapeutic Goods
Administration (TGA), the plain-English guide will make the legal requirements for the
release of new medicines more accessible.

Launching the publication, Senate President Margaret Reid said it was important the
laws relating to medical items were easily understood.

"We live in a society where a presumption of knowing the law is the basis of our legal
system," she said.

"But in an area like this, which is inevitably quite complex, I think it is necessary
to present information in a way that people can understand it."

The guide, which will be available in booklets, on CD and the Internet, brought together
all present information and would benefit academics, industry and consumers, Senator Reid
said.

Pushed partly by the Australian Democrats, she said government had accepted the regulatory
process administered by the TGA needed to be more easily read and updated.

"It was recognised that this will make it simpler and make it easier for people to
understand what the TGA does and why it does it," she said.

TGA national manager Terry Slater said anyone who wanted to produce a therapeutic good
for this $8 billion-a-year sector in Australia needed to get approval before they put
it on the market.

"The process can sometimes take a while so this should help things along and make sure
valuable products get on the market sooner," he said.

AAP rft/mfh/kr

KEYWORD: THERAPEUTIC

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