Pharmacy Daily | NZ OTC pill repeats

COMMUNITY pharmacists in New Zealand will be able to provide repeat supplies of selected oral contraceptives, under a new recommendation by the NZ Ministry of Health’s Medicines Classification Committee. The move is set to come into effect on 09 Feb, with the medicines reclassified as “restricted” meaning pharmacists can dispense repeats to women who have had them prescribed within the previous three years. NZ Guild ceo Lee Hohaia said “pharmacists are already providing a number of health services to their local communities cost effectively, efficiently and conveniently and we strongly support the move towards making medicine such as oral contraceptives more conveniently accessible to women”. Hohaia said access would be improved over weekends and public holidays due to the longer hours of operation of pharmacies. The Medicines Classification Committee (MCC) also recommended a change to flu vaccinations, making them available from a trained pharmacist to people from the age of 13 years instead of 18 and over. “Community pharmacy is ideally placed and qualified to be providing these extended services to their patients and we are extremely pleased to see MCC support community pharmacy in playing a greater role in primary health care,” Hohaia added.

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