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Speaker 1: Let's talk about the medicine shortage impacting more than four

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Speaker 1: hundred drugs. You might be affected here because there's a

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Speaker 1: widespread shortages shortage of medicines four hundred and twenty four.

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Speaker 1: In fact, medicines listed on the Therapeutic Goods Administration Medicine

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Speaker 1: Shortage Database, twenty of those critically low levels, including medicines

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Speaker 1: in short supply, ritalin which treats ADHD, antibiotic benzethine, penicillin

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Speaker 1: which helps with upper respiratory tract infections, fluo fluaxtine, which

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Speaker 1: is an antidepressant, ordine that's the morphine oral liquid used

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Speaker 1: to manage severe pain. And there are others obviously as

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Speaker 1: well in that four hundred and twenty four local level disruptions,

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Speaker 1: including of all things. Now, surely this can't be an

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Speaker 1: excuse anymore, but it seems to be the COVID nineteen

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Speaker 1: pandemic still impacting on supply. Eyes. Maybe it is Nicole Higgins,

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Speaker 1: Doctor Nicole Higgins, president of the Royal Australian College of

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Speaker 1: GPS on the line. Nicole, good morning, thank you for

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Speaker 1: your time.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, good morning, Matthew.

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Speaker 1: It is very serious. I mean, if you need to

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Speaker 1: get some medication to keep your health up and going

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Speaker 1: or get rid of pain. You might find yourself in

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Speaker 1: a bit of strife.

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Speaker 2: He'll forgive me on as from an airport. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: look at most you know, it can be a bit

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Speaker 2: inconvenient to anything to being a bit dangerous, and we

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Speaker 2: need to make sure that. I mean, firstly, people keep

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Speaker 2: taking their medicines, but the government really starts to act

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Speaker 2: to make sure that Australians have the medications that they need.

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Speaker 1: The pandemic surely, you know two years on now. We

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Speaker 1: came out of it a couple of years ago and

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Speaker 1: we've still got these supply issues.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a global supply chain issues. So it is

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Speaker 2: partly related to COVID, but it's around getting access to

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Speaker 2: the war ingredients, around the transport and the manufacture because

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Speaker 2: in Australia we import nearly all of our medicines and

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Speaker 2: the two biggest countries are from China and India, but

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Speaker 2: from all around the world.

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Speaker 1: Right, what do we need to do to fix us?

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Speaker 1: Can the government actually do anything? Then if it's out

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Speaker 1: of our.

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Speaker 2: Hands, there are some things that we can do, and

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Speaker 2: one is making sure that we do have medicines in Australia,

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Speaker 2: especially those essential ones, so that we have a national

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Speaker 2: stock style. But also there are options around looking at

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Speaker 2: manufacturing essential medications and really looking at how we negotiate

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Speaker 2: our medicines because really, in the scheme of the whole world,

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Speaker 2: Australia is a very small market, but it's our market.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely so, all right, now, for people who can't

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Speaker 1: get hold of what they've been prescribed, what should they do?

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Speaker 2: So for most of the time, for most people and

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Speaker 2: most medications, there's no change, no difficulties, and those that

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Speaker 2: are affected, we do have alternatives and we can change

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Speaker 2: people over to a similar medication for a short time

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Speaker 2: until the others come in supply. Sometimes we do have

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Speaker 2: to change dosages as well, and your GP and your pharmacist.

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Speaker 2: We're pretty good at making sure that we have an

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Speaker 2: alternative for everyone.

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Speaker 1: Okay, stockpiling medication is that something we should look at

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Speaker 1: given stuff does expire, of course, But is that an

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Speaker 1: option for the government.

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Speaker 2: Yes, So we don't want people stop piling their medicines

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Speaker 2: at home. This is more about having the government just

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Speaker 2: having enough to make sure that we've got a continuity

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Speaker 2: of supply of medicines in Australia.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So all right now, if apart from going to

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Speaker 1: the GP and maybe getting a changeover, there's nothing much

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Speaker 1: else that people can do, is there, except make sure

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Speaker 1: they're remaining on track with what they're taking exactly.

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Speaker 2: So the message for people is just continue taking medications

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Speaker 2: as normal and have a chat with your pharmacist or

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Speaker 2: your GP. If you're unable to access it that month.

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Speaker 2: We're usually able to manage to source something for you,

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Speaker 2: whether it's the same medication from elsewhere or a different

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Speaker 2: brand or alternative.

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Speaker 1: Do doctors get any advice on this? I mean, would

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Speaker 1: you know in prescribing a drug to someone what the

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Speaker 1: stock levels are?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it sort of feels like a bit of a

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Speaker 2: moving feast at the moment. And there is on the

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Speaker 2: TGA website that does have a list of medications and

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Speaker 2: they do send out alerts to gps and pharmacists when

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Speaker 2: something goes on to that list. But we've seen it

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Speaker 2: growing instead of shrinking, and this is something we do

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Speaker 2: need to get on top of.

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Speaker 1: Okay, And that's one for the government obviously to manage

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Speaker 1: and get on top of too.

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Speaker 2: It isn't they've got a very very busy job ahead

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Speaker 2: of it.

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Speaker 1: Indeed, thank you for your time, Nicole, appreciate it. Not

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Speaker 1: a problem, doctor Nicole Higgins. They a President, Royal Australian

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Speaker 1: College of GPS