National Policy for Controlled Medicines and its Implementation Strategies 2017.

The National Policy for Controlled Medicines and its Implementation Strategies lays the foundation for expanding therapeutic interventions for the care of persons with disease conditions for which controlled medicines and substances may be useful, irrespective of gender, geographic location or financial means. It addresses the challenges of increasing the use of controlled medicines, including training of healthcare workers to meet the health needs of patients. The Policy is an overarching framework with explicit objectives to enable and facilitate adequate availability and accessibility to affordable controlled medicines for medical and scientific purposes, as well as promote necessary controls. The Policy is organized around one goal, five objectives and thirty-eight targets; the goal is to ensure sustainable availability and accessibility to affordable controlled medicines for medical and scientific purposes, while preventing diversion. Furthermore, the Policy targets to sensitize regulatory bodies and stakeholders on the need for improved availability of controlled medicines for medical and scientific purposes; promote coordinating mechanisms in the Department of Food and Drug Services of the Ministry of Health; review national laws, legislation and existing policies to identify and promote opportunities to increase access to controlled medicines within a framework that recognizes the importance of gender and human rights, among other specific targets.