Australia PBS drug access not yet assured

There is a new era for Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme but access to medicines has not yet assured for the people of the country, says the drug trade body Medicines Australia.

With effect August 1, the prices of more than 400 pharmaceutical products have been cut, saving consumers up to A$5 ($4.66) on some products, including popular drugs such as Prozac (fluoxetine) and cholesterol-lowering medicines. The reductions stem from an overhaul of the pricing of prescription medicines imposed on pharmacies by a previous federal government almost two years earlier, but coming into operation only now, after it was felt that Australians were paying more than five times the international market level for some drugs.

The government has spurred the retail price cuts by requiring disclosure of wholesale prices paid by pharmacies and by imposing a 25% reduction on many drugs where strong generic competition existed, reports the Southern Highland News. In recent years, it said, the growth in sales of prescribed drugs in Australia has been below expectations and one factor for this was the 25% patient co-payment introduced five years ago.