The Health Department has released the Australian Statistics on Medicines (ASM) for 2015, representing estimates of the aggregate community use of prescription medicines in Australia.
Produced by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Division, publication of the data is said to facilitate international comparisons of drug use profiles and encourages global collaboration on drug utilisation research, particularly in relation to enhancing the quality use of medicines and health outcomes.
The figures show that in 2015 there were 214 million scripts subsidised on the PBS or RPBS, and the top ten drugs used were atorvastatin, perindropril, rosuvastatin, amlodipine, paracetamol, irbesartan, candesartan, ramipril, telmisartan and colchicine - see pbs.gov.au.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 06 Sep 16
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 06 Sep 16
