Pharmacy Guild to provide insight into chronic disease

THERE ARE over 5450 community pharmacies in Australia and they are often at the front line of contact with the community and those suffering with chronic disease.

The expertise of these pharmacies is crucial given that there an estimated 190 000 hospital admissions every year due to adverse medicine events, equalling $660 million in cost to the health system. It is estimated that up to 50 per cent of these admissions are avoidable.

Tomorrow, 23 February 2016, as part of its Inquiry into Chronic Disease Prevention and Management in Primary Health Care, the House of Representatives Health Committee will conduct a public hearing in Parliament House to hear from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

Committee Chair Steve Irons MP stated: "The Committee is interested in hearing about the role of community pharmacies in chronic disease management, but just as importantly, their role in chronic disease prevention. The initial contact that pharmacies have with people at risk of developing chronic disease, or who are in the initial stages of chronic disease, places them in a unique situation to help reduce the increasing weight that chronic disease places on the health care system and the community."

Details of the hearing are:
Tuesday, 23 February – 12.00 pm – 12.40 pm
Committee Room 1R3
Parliament House, Canberra

A program and further information about the inquiry is available at: www.aph.gov.au/chronicdisease

Audio of the hearing will be broadcast live at: www.aph.gov.au/live

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