Report of the Commission of Public Health to the Minister of Public Health / Department of Public Health, Victoria.

  • Victoria. Commission of Public Health.
Date:
[1974]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report of the Commission of Public Health to the Minister of Public Health / Department of Public Health, Victoria. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    30/48 (page 30)
    Co-ordination of activities between States. (ft) Poisons Schedule Sub-Committee, National Health and Medical Research Council. This Sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. E. Fitzsimmons, Medical Officer of the Commonwealth Department of Health includes representatives from the States and advises on the scheduling of numerous substances. It also attempts to promote and to maintain so far as possible a uniform list of scheduling from State to State. Important subjects recently considered by the Sub-Committee include the responsibilities of sale of Potent Substances ; the labelling of analgesics and the possible scheduling of them ; first aid and safety directions for all hazardous materials ; and improved care in the labelling and packaging of poisons and deleterious substances and also non-edible substances in food containers. (b) Control of Therapeutic Goods. Officers of the Department attended further meetings of the National Therapeutic Goods Committee which was established under the Therapeutic Goods Act to recommend controls to Commonwealth and State Departments of Health in relation to therapeutic goods. Advisory Committees have been established to prepare standards for therapeutic goods, testing methods, methods of assay and standards of purity. A proposed set of regulations covering the advertising of therapeutic goods is being prepared for examination by State and Commonwealth Departments. Regular inspections of premises of manufacturers and wholesalers of therapeutic goods were carried out conjointly by Pharmaceutical Officers of the Poisons Division and Officers of the National Biological Standards Laboratories. Appropriate recommendations were made to the companies concerned and follow-up procedures were adopted to ensure compliance with the Code of Good Manufacturing Practice. (c) Monitoring of Illicit Drug Transactions. The scrutiny of illicit movements of drugs of addiction made possible by the processing and analysis by the Commonwealth Department of Health computer of weekly returns of all transactions in drugs of addiction submitted by manufacturers and wholesalers, continued during the year. The method of “ exception ” reporting whereby the States are provided with information on authorized people receiving larger than normal amounts of drugs of addiction was refined to eliminate anomalies and provide better indications of long-term usage of drugs of addiction and possible abuse situations. Professional and Technical Advice and Assistance. Officers of the Poisons Division continued to provide advice to industry, the professions, and the public on all aspects of packaging, labelling, containers and regulations concerning the sale, distribution and use of Poisons and Deleterious Substances. Members of the Division acted on committees reviewing standards for plastic poisons containers, and containers for poisons and poisonous substances ; and on a Committee promulgating new standards for items such as child-resistant closures and safety containers. Drug and Health Education. Professional officers of the Division gave a number of lectures and talks during the year on topics associated with drugs, poisons and therapeutic goods. Most of these talks, carried out in conjunction with the Health Education Centre, were given to community groups. The remainder dealing with more specific sections of the Poisons Legislation, were given to groups such as nurses, health inspectors and industry representatives. Drug Recalls. Twenty-two recalls of substandard therapeutic goods were instituted during the period under review—a decrease of nine on the previous year. Recalls were necessary for the following reasons—contaminated contents, failure to meet required standards of potency, or faulty labelling or packaging. The decrease may be directly attributable to the stricter compliance with the Code of Good Manufacturing Practice during the manufacturing process and the consequential quality control procedures before the clearance of therapeutic goods for distribution. Appropriate follow-up investigations were made and recommendations formulated for dealing with and to prevent a re-occurrence of the incidents which had necessitated the recalls. Destruction of Unwanted Drugs and Poisons. A concerted effort was made by the Division to destroy all unwanted poisons or deleterious substances, particularly obsolete and unused drugs of addiction. More than 1,000 requests for disposal were received from doctors, pharmacists, schools, university departments, hospitals and industrial organisations compared to 200 the previous year.