**********************************

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in moving the proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance in the Legislative Council today (July 3):

Madam President,

I move that the four Amendment Regulations as set out under my name in the paper circulated to Members be approved.

Currently, we regulate the sale and supply of pharmaceutical products through a registration and inspection system set up in accordance with the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance. The Ordinance maintains a Poisons List under the Poisons List Regulations and several Schedules under the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations. Pharmaceutical products put on different parts of the Poisons List and different Schedules are subject to different levels of control in regard to the conditions of sale and keeping of records.

For the protection of public health, some pharmaceutical products can only be sold in pharmacies under the supervision of registered pharmacists and in their presence. For certain pharmaceutical products, proper records of the particulars of the sale must be kept, including the date of sale, the name and address of the purchaser, the name and quantity of the medicine and the purpose for which it is required. The sale of some pharmaceutical products must be authorised by prescription from a registered medical practitioner, a registered dentist or a registered veterinary surgeon.

The four Amendment Regulations now before members seek to amend the Poisons List in the Poisons List Regulations and the Schedules to the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations for the purpose of imposing control on ten new medicines and tightening the control on nineteen existing medicines.

Arising from the applications for registration of ten pharmaceutical products, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board proposes to add ten substances to Part I of the Poisons List and the First and Third Schedules to the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations through the making of the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2003 and the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2003. Pharmaceutical products containing any of these substances must be sold in pharmacies under the supervision of registered pharmacists and in their presence, with the support of prescriptions. We propose that these amendment regulations take immediate effect upon gazettal on July 4, 2003 to allow early control and sale of medicines containing these substances.

In addition, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board proposes to tighten the control on nineteen existing medicines through the making of the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulation 2003 and the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulation 2003. At present, pharmaceutical products containing any of these nineteen substances, now classified as non-poisons, are sold in all kinds of medicines outlets. By adding these nineteen substances to Part I of the Poisons List and the First and Third Schedules to the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations, pharmaceutical products containing any of them must be sold in pharmacies under the supervision of registered pharmacists and in their presence, with the support of prescriptions. To allow time for the manufacturers and importers to recall pharmaceutical products containing these substances from medicines outlets other than pharmacies, we propose that these amendments take effect on August 4, 2003.

The four Amendment Regulations are made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, which is a statutory authority established under section 3 of the Ordinance to regulate the registration and control of pharmaceutical products. The Board comprises members engaged in the pharmacy, medical and academic professions. The Board considers the proposed amendments necessary in view of the potency, toxicity and potential side effects of the medicines concerned.

With these remarks, Madam President, I move the motion.

End/Thursday, July 3, 2003

NNNN