NZ pharmacy primary care
July 22, 2010
NEW Zealand publicly listed
pharmacy group Pharmacybrands
has signalled an intention to look
for “opportunities to provide a
broader range of primary care
services funded through our
network of pharmacies”.
Pharmacybrands was formed from
the merger of Life Pharmacy and
Pharmacybrands, and represents
257 retail outlets across New
Zealand under the Unichem,
Amcal, Life Pharmacy and Care
Chemist brands - about 28% of the
total NZ market.
Speaking at the company’s
annual general meeting this week,
chairman Peter Merton said “It is
widely recognised that pharmacy
can contribute a lot more to
primary care than simply providing
a funded dispensary service”.
He said that the planned NZ
implementation of integrated
Electronic Health Records would
also be an important step towards
“realising the potential of
pharmacy,” improving the efficiency
of service delivery.
Despite a very difficult NZ
economy Pharmacybrands saw
sales grow by about 1.3% in the last
financial year, with the company’s
focus on “weight management,
core health areas such as
analgesics and natural health
products” paying off.
Sales of beauty products had
fallen last year and continued to be
erratic, Merton said.
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