AUSTRALIAN Self Medication Industry Association (ASMI) chair Lindsay Forrest says the organisation's proposals for consumer advertising of S3 medications (PD 09 Feb) would see pharmacists play a larger role in Australian healthcare.
Speaking at APP last week, Forrest described the potential positive impact of the model, which ASMI has successfully trialled through the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE) at University of Technology Sydney.
The ASMI proposal calls for a mandatory 'infomercial-style' format that gives equal prominence to disease state awareness, branded product information and the pharmacist's role in determining whether the therapy is right for the consumer.
"So many more categories can be OTC," Forrest said, citing NZ examples such as erectile dysfunction medicines and the contraceptive pill.
Guild national president George Tambassis immediately pledged the organisation's support for the proposed S3 advertising model in the upcoming scheduling review.
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