21December 2001

Government response to Marsh Reportpositive and practical, says NOAH

The InterimGovernment Response to the Independent Review of Veterinary Dispensing (theMarsh Report) has been welcomed by the National Office of Animal Health. TheGovernment seem to be adopting a positive yet practical way forward, and haslistened to many of the reasons behind the comments made by those affected, intheir submissions to Professor Marsh and his team when they were drafting theReport. Published in May 2001, the Marsh Report made recommendations on howanimal medicines are made available to animal owners.

Gone from thepicture, it appears, is the perceived threat to the privilege of a veterinarysurgeon to dispense, which was a major issue a year ago and formed the basis ofthe NOAH Conference in 2000. In its place is the much more practical suggestionthat professional guidance on writing a prescription is tightened up, so animalowners have a real choice in where they get their medicines. But the Governmentsupports the Report's recommendation on a means to retain a flexibledistribution system, to permit registered animal health distributors tocontinue to sell routine medicines. This could even provide a possible solutionif the European Commissions proposals to make all farm animal medicinesprescription-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 thefact that the classification of medicines should be on a product-by-productbasis: something NOAH has successfully lobbied for in the past. It is logicalthat while one formulation of certain active ingredients may require specialistprofessional advice or administration, another formulation of the samesubstance may be quite suitable for an owner to use on their animal themselves.NOAH welcomes the confirmation that thesole grounds for determining a products classification are safety, quality andefficacy.

And there iswelcome support for the Report's recommendation for the extrapolation ofmajor-species Maximum Residue Limits to minor species, and for proposals toencourage the Commission to develop the 'horse passport' system - bothlong-standing proposals, endorsed by animal health industry and veterinaryprofession in Europe, to help alleviate medicines availability problems. But,importantly, there is recognition that the Report's proposed quick fix ofthrowing aside the so-called 'cascade' system for prescribing, to allowwholesale use of human generics in companion animal medicine, would bedetrimental to medicines availability in the long term. There would be noincentive for companies to invest in new pet medicines, or to researchextending their use to different species (and indeed human medicines do nothave specific animal dosages or formulations and so the veterinary surgeonwould not benefit from the knowledge base of the animal medicine manufacturer).

Optimismpreviously expressed by NOAH over the apparent change of attitude of Europeanregulators towards the role of animal medicines appears justified. TheCommission seem to have recognised, in the past couple of years, that licensedanimal medicines are beneficial, not only to the animal, but to society as awhole. Animal medicines need to be regulated but they also need to beavailable. The UK Government comments on the Marsh report reinforce thisview. However, DEFRA are constrained byEU Law - until the flexibility of the UK system within the EUs VeterinaryReview 2001 proposals is assured, the future remains to be fought for.

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Notes for editors

1. Forfurther information contact Roger Cook or Alison Glennon on 020 8367 3131, ore-mail noah@noah.co.uk or visit theNOAH website www.noah.co.uk

2.      The National Office of AnimalHealth was formed on 1 January 1986 to represent the UK companies whichresearch, develop, manufacture and market licensed animal health products. Theassociation now has 38 corporate members and 12 associate members. In 2000NOAH's members accounted for around 95% of the 357 million UK animal healthmarket, with additional valuable exports.