New Advisory Body to Australian Regulator to Guide Reforms
The Australian Government has created a new advisory body for the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) with the mandate to advise TGA on communication with stakeholders, on new agency management initiatives and to monitor the agency's progress on its ongoing Blueprint for Reform agenda.
The Australian Therapeutic Goods Advisory Council (ATGAC) consists of 15 "eminent health care professionals" that will be chaired by Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Baggoley.
TGA has a three-phase plan that details how and when the agreed reforms will be implemented, and as part of this process the TGA will report on the progress of its reforms to the newly formed Council every six months.
The TGA reforms are outlined in TGA reforms: A blueprint for TGA's future, and are intended to improve the public understanding of and trust in TGA's regulatory processes and decisions. The Blueprint targets the following areas for reforms:
- Advertising of therapeutic goods
- Complementary medicines
- Medical devices
- Medicine labelling and packaging review
- Over-the-counter business processes
- Streamlined Submission Process project (prescription medicines)
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