Jump to content

Health Ministry Announces New Drug List


george

Recommended Posts

Health ministry announces new drug list

BANGKOK: -- The Public Health Ministry has announced a new national drug list which includes cheaper and more effective drugs for cancer, glaucoma, and anaemia patients.

Food and Drug Administration secretarygeneral Dr Siriwat Tiptaradol said the list would be announced in the government gazette and then catalogued in all hospitals nationwide.

The FDA started revision of the 692 items in the old national drug list last year in response to cheaper newly developed drugs entering the global pharmaceutical market.

"The prices of some drugs were reduced and that's why we had to improve the 2003 national drug list and include the new effective drugs," he said.

The FDA has excluded 33 items from the old list and added 24 new ones, bringing the total to 683.

Important drugs for the treatment of rare diseases are also included in the new list such as: imatinib to treat leukaemia and gastric cancer; docetaxel for lung and breast cancer; bimatoprost for glaucoma; botulinum toxin type A to treat hemifacial spasm disease; immunoglobulin for myastenia gravis; and epoetin for anaemia.

The drugs are all expensive and until now have been inaccessible to most patients.

"The new national drug list will enable physicians across the country to prescribe more affordable, essential and effective drugs for their patients," Siriwat said.

The FDA has also included 19 herbal medicines such as turmeric, ginger, candelabra bush and Asiatic pennywort in the new drug list, to promote the use of local medicines and traditions.

However, Siriwat said, these alternative medicines needed more research and development to ensure their effectiveness.

In the interests of awareness and safety, people are advised to check the new national drug list on the FDA website http://www.fda.moph.go.th

-- The Nation 2008-02-01

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.


  • Topics

  • Latest posts...

    1. 50

      After A Lifetime Of Adventure, Why Is It Now So Hard To Pop Off?

    2. 1

      Racism or "just" bad behavior at Pattaya City Hospital?

    3. 1

      Racism or "just" bad behavior at Pattaya City Hospital?

    4. 1

      A Radical Experiment: How Elon Musk Could Shake Up Washington

    5. 0

      The Guardian Steps Back from Elon Musk’s Platform X Amid Content Concerns

    6. 0

      Metropolitan Police Chief Warns of Drastic Budget Cuts Under Labour

  • Popular in The Pub


×
×
  • Create New...