Only 75 health-care workers out of an estimated 11 000 who dispense medicine have the licences they require by law, a Department of Health spokesperson said on Thursday.
Under the Medicines and Related Substances Act, by May 2 doctors, nurses and dentists who dispense medicine must obtain a dispensing licence from the Department of Health or they will be breaking the law, unless they are dispensing emergency medicine.
Sibani Mngadi said that another 1 300 have already applied for their licences and 5 700 healthcare workers have registered for the distance learning dispensing course required for the licence to be issued.
He said extra staff have been deployed to process applications ahead of the deadline as the department wants to assist people to comply with the law.
”There is a rush to complete the course and people are submitting their assignments,” Mngadi said. ”The numbers will increase significantly and we will wait to see how it unfolds.”
The regulations form part of a set of laws designed to make drugs more affordable and to stamp out financial incentives offered to doctors by pharmaceutical companies.
Health workers have had a year to apply but many oppose the regulations, saying they are unnecessary for doctors who already have permission to dispense and that they are bureaucratic and expensive at about R5 000 for the course and the newspapers advertisements required. They also fear that the close proximity of pharmacies in their area may lead to their applications being refused.
The National Convention on Dispensing (NCD) has filed an application in the Pretoria High Court to have the May 2 deadline set aside and for the matter to be heard by the Constitutional Court before the end of May.
The matter will return to court next Thursday, said NCD spokesperson Norman Mabasa.
He added that the NCD has hoped in the meantime to receive news of a deadline extension from the Department of Health.
Meanwhile, the South African Medical and Dental Practitioners (SAMDP) has threatened to embark on a number of marches countrywide to protest the new law.
Spokesperson Elijah Nkosi said dispensing doctors may also close surgeries for a few days as a ”dry run” to show how important dispensing doctors are.
Nkosi said that they feel their concerns have not been addressed by the department since they started meeting in February.
The dispensing doctors argue that they play a vital role in areas underserviced by state health facilities and private pharmacies. For an average fee of R120, they give patients a private consultation and a packet of medicine.
Concern has been expressed over what will become of thousands of sick people, especially the elderly and people with HIV/Aids, if doctors stop dispensing on May 2.
The SAMPD has also advised its more than 1 000 members to dispense medication on a cash basis in case medical aids do not reimburse them, on the grounds that they are breaking the law.
Medscheme, one of the country’s largest medical aid administrators, earlier this week said it will honour claims from doctors as long as they have a practice number, which entitles them to dispense medicine.
However, the Board of Healthcare Funders, which issues the practice numbers, said it will remind medical aids that it will be illegal to dispense without a certificate and that it is currently overhauling its practice number system to reflect the new requirements.
Meanwhile, the Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union (Hospersa) has joined the fray and is worried about the legalities of nurses performing services that should be performed by general practitioners and pharmacists.
Hospersa said that although the Gauteng government has ”instructed” the nurses to perform these services, it has not issued proper written authorisation in terms of the Nursing Act.
In the face of confusion over whether the relevant sections of the Act still apply, Hospersa is concerned about patients launching legal action against the nurses. If the nurses stop rendering these services, it could lead to a ”total collapse” of primary health care in the greater Soweto area, Hospersa said in a statement. — Sapa
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