One of the most frustrating problems that has plagued the SA pharmaceutical landscape for at least the last decade is the inability of the country’s drug regulator to approve medicines timeously.
Though some people may consider it necessary to have a local regulator to ensure products are safe, bureaucratic inertia is denying thousands of SA patients access to medicines that have already been approved elsewhere that could cure or manage their symptoms.About half of the drugs awaiting approval are for new registrations of medicines that are in use overseas. Half of these drugs have been on the marketing approval waiting list for more than five years.
Though it may come as some relief to patients who can afford the drug through out-of-pocket payments, it fails to address the underlying cause of why patients are not gaining access to drugs timeously in the first place.