SIGNING the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA) is more urgent than ever, with Australia facing the threat of COVID-19, Shadow Federal Health Minister, Chris Bowen, says.
In an open letter to Federal Health Minister, Greg Hunt, the Labor MP stressed the need to deliver certainty for the pharmacy sector, with less than three months until the 6CPA expires.
"Successive CPAs have ensured a strong partnership between the Commonwealth and community pharmacy since the Hawke-Keating Government signed the First Agreement," he said.
"CPAs provide much-needed certainty for Australia's 5,800 community pharmacies, their staff, and most importantly their millions of patients.
"With just three months until the 6CPA expires, and having missed your Government's deadline to sign a new Agreement in 2019, I am concerned that this certainty is now being undermined.
"My firm view is that COVID-19 makes settling a 7CPA more urgent, not less.
"I also note that elements of the 7CPA may need to be legislated, and that the Parliament may only sit once more before the 6CPA expires."
Bowen added the new agreement must address issues around the affordability of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines and funding to support the role of pharmacies within the primary healthcare setting.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health told Pharmacy Daily that while the signatories of the 6CPA had agreed "to use their best endeavours to ensure that negotiations for the new CPA concluded by 31 Mar", talk were continuing throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
"Consultations and negotiations have covered a wide range of topics including aged care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, primary care, digital health opportunities, and rural and remote pharmacy, amongst others," the spokesperson said.
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