South African Health Legislation Withdrawn

South African Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma has apparently yielded tooverwhelming local and international pressure and withdrawn three controversial bills, including the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Bill which would have legalized generic substitution and parallel imports.

Dr Zuma said that the bills, which would also introduce two years' vocational training for medical students and permit lay ownership of pharmacies, would now be resubmitted to the cabinet for approval this month.

The withdrawal means another round of public hearings must be held once the bills are resubmitted to parliament. Dr Zuma's decision to resend them through the parliamentary process follows strong opposition from political parties, the pharmaceutical industry, medical students and foreign firms with interests in the South African health care industry (Marketletter June 9), plus accusations that she had tried to steamroller them through parliament.