Pharmacy Daily | PSA CHF challenge

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia acting national president Joe Demarte says it’s disappointing that consumer groups including the Consumers Health Forum, CHOICE and ACOSS “seem to be singling out pharmacists who provide a pivotal health service for the community”. The trio yesterday launched a concerted attack on the pharmacy campaign highlighting the impact of the government’s accelerated price disclosure regime (PD yesterday). “I am at a loss as to why anyone would seek to put community pharmacists out of business,” Demarte said. “The issue over price disclosure is that the Government has broken an existing contract with the pharmacy profession and has unilaterally accelerated the process to a level which is unsustainable,” he added. Demarte said the move would result in the loss of programs and services which pharmacies cross subsidise through dispensing. “We all want cheaper medicines, but the process must be managed in a way that not only provides cheaper medicines for consumers but also does not damage pharmacy’s ability to provide medicines equitably across Australia,” he added.

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