SAHPRA: No ‘sub-standard’ anti-cancer meds sold in SA
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority has assured consumers that the cancer medication sold and marketed in the country meets the relevant health standard and isn't one of the flagged substandard medicines on the continent.
This follows the Lancet Global Health's notification of an investigational study and its findings on substandard anti-cancer medications in sub-Saharan African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Cameroon.
This study did not include South Africa.
The study mentions seven medicines/dosage forms: cisplatin, oxaliplatin, methotrexate, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, and leucovorin.
The specific brands mentioned/shown in the article are neither registered nor marketed in South Africa.
“SAHPRA commenced internal processes to verify whether any of the South African-registered cancer medicines with the mentioned Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients might have been affected or implicated. The cancer products registered and marketed in South Africa were not implicated/affected by the investigational study and its findings on substandard anti-cancer medicines,” the authority’s Yuven Gounden said.
SAHPRA says it’s satisfied that the marketed and registered cancer medicines meet the appropriate specifications and that no substandard medicines were detected.
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