CHC calls for meaningful plan
January 29, 2013
THE Government and industry
need to get their acts together and
develop a meaningful plan and
framework for complementary
medicines, according to the
Complementary Healthcare Council
of Australia (CHC).
The comments follow the CHC’s
2013/14 pre-Budget submission to
the Government which calls for
$500,000 over two years to
develop an industry-wide plan
using a model similar to the
Manufacturing Roundtable process.
“It would include a Planning Task
Force involving the Therapeutic
Goods Administration (TGA), CHC,
Dept. Industry, Innovation, Science,
Research and Tertiary Education
(DIISRTE), and other key industry
stakeholders”, said CHC Executive
Director, Dr Wendy Morrow.
“Industry and government need
to develop a meaningful plan and
framework, that moves away from a
one size fits all regulatory approach
to one that recognises the
differences between complementary
and prescriptions medicines,
respectively,” Morrow added.
According to the CHC, features of
the plan should include: modified
product registration pathway to
incentivise research and innovation;
mechanisms to facilitate market
exclusivity for a period of time to
encourage innovation and support
ongoing clinical trials; and mutual
recognition with comparable
overseas regulators.
The CHC believes the plan should
also include an equitable proportion
of NHMRC funding allocated for
complementary medicines research,
and government recognition and
specific support for complementary
medicines export development and
import replacement.
Meanwhile recommendations in
the CHC’s pre-Budget sumbission
include $1m over two years to assist
the TGA to implement regulatory
reforms; $500,000 over two years to
develop a complementary medicines
industry-wide plan; and $400,000
over two years to overcome barriers
to complementary medicines
innovation.
The submission also calls for
$700,000 over three years to bring
evidence-based Indigenous
medicines to market and $800,000
over two years to undertake a
stock-take of Indigenous medicines.
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