Government response to Marsh Report positive and practical, says
NOAH
The Interim Government Response
to the Independent Review of Veterinary Dispensing (the Marsh
Report) has been welcomed by the National Office of Animal Health. The Government
seems to be adopting a positive yet practical way forward, and has listened to many of the
reasons behind the comments made by those affected in their submissions to Professor Marsh
and his team when they were drafting the Report. Published in May 2001, the Marsh Report
made recommendations on how animal medicines are made available to animal owners.
Gone from the picture, it appears, is the perceived threat to the
privilege of a veterinary surgeon to dispense, which was a major issue a year ago and
formed the basis of the NOAH Conference in 2000. In its place is the much more practical
suggestion that professional guidance on writing a prescription is tightened up, so animal
owners have a real choice in where they get their medicines. But the Government supports
the Report's recommendation on a means to retain a flexible distribution system, to permit
registered animal health distributors to continue to sell routine medicines. This could
even provide a possible solution if the European
Commission’s proposals to make all farm animal medicines prescription-only
necessitate a re-think of the UK classification system. Inherent in the proposals is that
Continuing Professional Development is vital, from farmer through to medicine supplier.
Endorsed by the Government is the fact that the classification of
medicines should be on a product-by-product basis: something NOAH has successfully lobbied
for in the past. It is logical that while one formulation of certain active ingredients
may require specialist professional advice or administration, another formulation of the
same substance may be quite suitable for an owner to use on their animal themselves. NOAH
welcomes the confirmation that the sole grounds for determining a product’s
classification are safety, quality and efficacy.
And there is welcome support for the Report's recommendation for the
extrapolation of major-species Maximum Residue Limits to minor species, and for proposals
to encourage the Commission to develop the 'horse passport' system - both long-standing
proposals, endorsed by animal health industry and veterinary profession in Europe, to help
alleviate medicines availability problems. But, importantly, there is recognition that the
Report's proposed quick fix of throwing aside the so-called 'cascade' system for
prescribing, to allow wholesale use of human generics in companion animal medicine, would
be detrimental to medicines availability in the long term. There would be no incentive for
companies to invest in new pet medicines, or to research extending their use to different
species (and indeed human medicines do not have specific animal dosages or formulations
and so the veterinary surgeon would not benefit from the knowledge base of the animal
medicine manufacturer).
Optimism previously expressed by NOAH over the apparent change of
attitude of European regulators towards the role of animal medicines appears justified.
The Commission seem to have recognised, in the past couple of years, that licensed animal
medicines are beneficial, not only to the animal, but to society as a whole. Animal
medicines need to be regulated but they also need to be available. The UK Government
comments on the Marsh report reinforce this view. However, DEFRA are constrained by EU Law
- until the flexibility of the UK system within the EU’s
Veterinary Review 2001 proposals is assured, the future remains to be fought for.
Ends
21 December 2001
Notes for Editors
- For further information contact Roger Cook or Alison Glennon at NOAH, tel. +44 (0)20 8367 3131.
- The National Office of Animal Health was formed on 1 January 1986 to represent the UK
companies which research, develop, manufacture and market licensed animal health products.
The association has 38 corporate members and 11
associate members. In 2000 NOAH's members accounted for
around 95% of the £357 million UK animal health market, with additional valuable exports.
- See the NOAH issues page on the Independent Review of Dispensing for more information
and links relating to the Marsh Report.
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