Pharmacists crisis roles

COMMUNITY pharmacists should be at the centre of State and Territory Governments’ responses to disasters, Pharmacy Guild of Australia Victorian Branch President, Anthony Tassone, believes.

Responding to praise of the profession’s response to the summer’s bushfire crisis, by Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, and Nationals State MP, Melina Bath, Tassone stressed the importance of pharmacists being included in disaster planning.

“The experience recently with the Victorian bushfires is validation of the critical role community pharmacy can play having representation on such an emergency response group,” he said.

“If other State and Territory Governments do not have community pharmacy representation as part of their emergency response – they simply must and should change this as a matter of urgency.

Speaking during a sitting of the State Legislative Council, Mikakos thanked the Guild for its efforts to ensure pharmacists in bushfireaffected areas had adequate medical supplies during the crisis.

“I also want to commend them for providing financial relief to bushfire-affected patients who did not have the funds available to pay for their prescriptions.”

While Bath said the Guild had done an “amazing job in getting supplies and prescriptions in where they are needed”.

“We are grateful that Minister Mikakos took the time to acknowledge on the lasting record of the Victorian parliament the important role that our pharmacists have played in delivery of patient care during the Victorian bushfire disaster,” Tassone said.