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Medicines regulator may restrict codeine to prescription only

South Africa’s medicines regulator has revived the debate on the control of codeine and is considering ruling that popular painkillers and cough suppressants are sold on prescription-only, unless the industry can come up with a viable alternative. Business Day reports that at the heart of the issue is whether the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) can strike the balance between limiting the scope for abuse while ensuring patients do not lose access to these medicines.

In an industry circular issued earlier in January, Sahpra said it was reviewing the scheduling status of codeine in light of the global trend towards making it prescription-only.

A previous industry effort launched in 2013 to keep track of patients, called the Codeine Care Initiative, collapsed over concerns that it was breaching the Protection of Personal Information Act. An industry forum is now working on a new version of the Codeine Care Initiative to put to the regulator, as well as a proposal to monitor the codeine supply chain, Independent Community Pharmacies Association chair Sham Moodley is quoted in the report as saying.

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