Following the Government’s announcement of the new 60-day dispensing policy, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia has released results of a poll, which reveals that more than 8 in 10 Australians are opposed to this new policy if it leads to medicine shortages.
Commissioned by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and conducted by Insightfully from 6-7 April, the poll included 2500 people across Australia and revealed that 84% of Australians don’t want the proposal to proceed – 47% said they don’t think the 60-day dispensing policy should go ahead and 37% said they don’t think it should go ahead if it worsens medicine shortages.
The poll revealed that 86% of regional Australians don’t think that the 60-day dispensing should go ahead if it will result in medicine shortages.
“If the Federal Government proceeds with this proposal, everyday prescription medicine will be put into severe shortages lasting months, not days or weeks,” says National President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia Professor Trent Twomey.
“I am very concerned for Australian patients and big shortages will hit common medicines that treat cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, depression, anxiety, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease to name just a few.
“The research is crystal clear, Australians do not support a policy if it means pharmacy shelves are bare and patients miss out on vital medicine that they need.
“We are calling on the Federal Government to reconsider.
“I don’t want to see a Hunger Games stand-off in any community in Australia where some patients get double the medicine they need, while others get nothing.
“We want to work with the Government to deliver cheaper medicine for millions of patients through our proposal to drop the PBS co-payment to $19, helping all Australians in this cost of living crisis,” he said.
Accidental overdose also a concern
Another concern expressed by the Pharmacy Guilts relates to concerns around accidental overdose with more medicines sitting in homes.
The Guild says that the 60-day dispensing policy will mean more medications are sitting in family homes, which may increase the risk of accidental overdose, including for children.
According to the recent poll, 51% of Australians agree with this concern and oppose the plan for 60-day dispensing should it increase the risk of accidental overdose.
This follows the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) interim decision on 3 February 2023 to reduce the maximum pack sizes for paracetamol products due to the incidence of serious injury and death from intentional paracetamol overdose and a shortage of paracetamol medication.
