THE Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has released new guidelines and education to support Australian pharmacists through the transition of liquid nicotine for vaping to a prescription-only substance.
The rescheduling became effective last Fri 01 Oct, with PSA Manager, Practice Support Claire Antrobus noting that "when nicotine vaping products are prescribed under the Authorised Prescriber Scheme or the Special Access Scheme they can be dispensed through local pharmacies".
"As a result of these legislative changes, we are likely to see patients presenting to pharmacies, to access nicotine vaping products via prescription," she said.
The guidelines have been developed alongside the TGA, Quit Victoria, the RACGP, the Pharmacy Guild, the Royal Australian and NZ College of Psychiatrists and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation.
"These guidelines outline the pharmacist's role in providing smoking cessation support and key requirements for dispensing nicotine vaping products, including counselling and safety considerations," Antrobus said.
Currently there are no nicotine vaping products registered on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, so access to the unapproved items must come via the Special Access Scheme, Authorised Prescriber Scheme or Personal Importation Scheme pathways.
Two PSA education modules to support pharmacists are now available in collaboration with Quit Victoria at my.psa.org.au, while the full Guidelines for Pharmacists Providing Smoking Cessation Support can be accessed by CLICKING HERE.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has also updated its Stop Smoking Guidelines to support the transition - see racgp.org.au.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 05 Oct 21
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