POLITICAL parties are being urged to deliver plans to address the rising cost of medicines ahead of this year's Federal election, with healthcare affordability a top issue across 15 marginal seats.
Research conducted on behalf of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia found that the affordability of healthcare was a key concern for more than 80% of women and middle-income families.
The survey found that 22% of non-concession cardholders were struggling to afford Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme-listed medicines, with one-in-three in the seat of Dobell - currently held by pharmacist and Labor's Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Emma McBride, by a slender margin - reporting that they found it difficult to manage the costs of medications.
When it came to medicines affordability, 38% of all female voters aged 35 to 54 years reported that they were finding it increasingly difficult to afford medicines, compared to 30% of all voters surveyed in that age group, and 24% across all groupings.
The research found that 29% of concession cardholders in the 15 electorates reported that it was becoming increasing difficult to afford medicines, while 13% of all respondents said they had gone without prescribed medicines because they were unable to afford them.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, Trent Twomey, noted that patients in Dobell and the Queensland seat of Flynn were the most severely impacted.
"What that means is that people are increasingly finding themselves having to choose between buying the medicines they need and other non-discretionary purchases like rent, groceries and petrol," he said.
"This is disproportionately affecting women. They know exactly what a loaf of bread, a litre of milk and a rapid antigen test costs. And they know that it all adds up fast.
"I see mothers in my pharmacy forced to choose which child gets the medicines prescribed by the doctor or not filling their own scripts because there's nothing left in the budget.
"These are Australia's forgotten women.
"As community pharmacists, we are raising the alarm. When medicines become unaffordable, it means that there is no real universal access to the PBS which is the foundation of our health system."
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