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.