ACCESS to medicines could be severely hampered if Federal, State and Territory governments fail to provide funding for rapid antigen tests (RATs) for community pharmacy staff, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) believes.
PSA National President, Associate Professor Chris Freeman, noted that while many governments were using RATs to test MPs and parliamentary staff, they were yet to utilise them to protect health workers including pharmacists.
With NSW and Victoria emerging from lockdowns, Freeman said rolling out RATs for pharmacy staff would be essential to ensure pharmacies remain open to provide access to medications for patients.
"Whilst it is pleasing to see that some antigen tests have been supplied in Australia, it is time for these tests to be utilised more broadly across our health system, including in pharmacies," he said.
"With jurisdictions reopening, it's likely we will continue to see a large number of pharmacies identified as exposure sites.
"Staff will still have to isolate and stores may have to temporarily close until PCR results are returned and deep cleaning has concluded.
"Rapid antigen tests expedite this process, returning results within 15 minutes.
"During such closures, patients would need to source their medicines from elsewhere -- and whilst this may be an inconvenience for those living in metropolitan areas, it would have significant implications on rural and remote communities.
"We cannot have a situation where Australians are cut off from the medication that they need, and antigen testing is one of the keys to ensuring continuity of healthcare and access to essential medicines.
"Professional football teams, schools, abattoirs and various other industries are already utilising this technology.
"In the meantime, our pharmacists and pharmacy staff are in the firing line, putting themselves at risk on a daily basis as they continue to provide their communities with access to medicines and health services.
"It is the responsibility of governments to protect our healthcare workers and right now they are failing our pharmacists.
"It's time to protect our frontline health workers by providing rapid antigen tests for pharmacists."
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 27 Oct 21
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