FEDERAL Health Minister Greg Hunt will today propose to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) new procedures that would facilitate patient access to medicinal cannabis across the country within 48 hours, assuming national responsibility for the approval process in lieu of state control.
With a number of approvals being held up by state legislation, especially in Queensland, the new system would introduce a single Therapeutic Goods Administration approval process, giving access to medicinal cannabis within 48 hours.
NSW has already agreed to the plan and it now remains for other states to follow suit and sign up to the single approval approach.
The TGA has developed a single application form for access to unregistered medicinal cannabis products and currently maintains an average two-day time frame for a decision on applications for medicinal cannabis.
However the various additional state processes can cause significant delays.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Dr Bastian Seidel backed the plan, saying "Australian GPs want to see a commitment to a nationally consistent framework for medicinal cannabis access.
"Patients and doctors should not have to wait months to access a drug that may improve a patient's quality of life," he argued, adding the current process does not value the key role specialist GPs play.
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