Bill to shore up medicine supplies: SHPA
The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) has welcomed new federal government legislation to further mitigate the impact of medicine shortages on Australians and ensure new and innovative medicines are accessible, available and affordable for all Australians into the future.
The National Health Amendment (Enhancing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) Bill 2021 (the Bill) will enable the new Strategic Agreements between the Commonwealth and the Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (GBMA) and Medicines Australia set to begin on 1 July 2022.
“On behalf of hospital pharmacists who continue to dedicate precious time to medicines shortage workarounds during a global pandemic, we welcome the new measures reflected in the Bill to enable several security-of-supply measures contained in the Strategic Agreements,” said SHPA Chief Executive Kristin Michaels.
The COVID-19 pandemic worsened Australia’s already vulnerable medicine supply chains, due to Australia’s remoteness and lack of local medicine production facilities, Michaels said. She added that SHPA’s COVID-19 Hospital Pharmacy Capacity Snapshots revealed widespread shortages of key medicines required to treat severely ill COVID-19-positive patients requiring ventilation in intensive care.
SHPA said the Bill will provide certainty on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) pricing policy and ensure the PBS subsidy supports reliable medicines supply to Australia over the next five years.
Michaels said the PBS changes will allow the federal government to achieve significant savings. “These savings will enable around $1.9 billion to be reinvested into the PBS to support the anticipated listing of more than $5 billion in new drugs and expanded patient access.
“We welcome this Bill, which when complemented by federal government’s $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative, will minimise and mitigate the prevalence of medicine shortages and alleviate the pressure on global supply chains, ensuring Australians continue to have timely access to the newest and most effective medicines available around the world.”
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