New way to access medicine information

The peak national body representing Australia’s health consumers has welcomed the launch of the new Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) website that will eventually provide information about all prescription medicines listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).

“At last, consumers will have access to quality, authoritative information about their prescription medicines in one place,” executive director of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF), Carol Bennett said.

Ms Bennett pointed out that for too long, consumers have had to rely on pharmacists to provide Consumer Medicines Information (CMI), to talk to them about their medications, or hope that the information they need is in the pack.

This has not always proven to be a reliable method of delivery with one authoritative study showing that CMI was provided to consumers in only 15% of instances when filling a new scripti.

The other option is that individuals use the Internet to look up information about their medications, but until now, the quality of information available on the Web has been variable at best.

“We know that quality information enables consumers to make good decisions about the use of their medications, minimising potential for misuse and poor health outcomes. This is a win for consumers,” Ms Bennett said.

CHF has been working with the TGA on new reforms that will improve the speed of the approval process for new prescription medications as well as transparency.

“We are optimistic about the extent to which this new site and the other reform measures will lead to greater accountability and transparency about Australia’s medications. At the end of the day, better systems for approval and information for consumers can improve outcomes for Australia’s health consumers. We look forward to working further with TGA as the new reforms are put into place,” Ms Bennett said.

Product information and CMI can be found at www.tga.gov.au/meds/picmi.htm