Pharmacy contraceptive role
May 16, 2016
PHARMACISTS should play
an increased role in providing
counselling on contraceptive
options, especially when dispensing
emergency contraception such as
the morning-after pill according
to the Australian Healthcare and
Hospitals Association report.
The report identified pregnancy
as “a key health issue for women in
Australia”, calling for an overhaul
of medical services offered to
women seeking contraception with
researchers revealing half of all
pregnancies are unplanned.
Increased Medicare funding for
contraceptive services is also on
the report agenda recommending
the extension of Medicare items to
include nurses working in GP clinics
who insert and remove different
types of long-acting reversible
contraceptive devices.
“The current Medicare Benefits
Schedule review process is an
opportunity to address this,
ensuring that MBS items reflect
best contemporary practice,” said
ceo of the Australian Healthcare
and Hospitals Association, Alison
Verhoeven.
Dr Deborah Bateson, medical
director at Family Planning NSW,
told a Women’s Health Summit
in Sydney that “while the pill
remains a useful contraceptive
option, it is important for women
to be informed about long-acting
reversible contraceptive methods
and be able to easily have one
inserted if this is their choice”.
The Women’s Health Summit will
be told of the estimated 200,000
unplanned Australian pregnancies
and more than 80,000 terminations
occur annually.
In addition, the Summit will learn
emergency contraception was
dispensed by pharmacists on more
than 600,000 occasions last year.
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