Guild supports recommendation for pharmacists to be Quitcard providers

The Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand (the Guild) supports the Māori Affairs Select Committee’s Report into the tobacco industry, especially their recommendation to allow community pharmacists to be Quitcard providers.

The Report recommends to Government that in order to improve access to nicotine replacement therapies, pharmacists should be Quitcard providers. They also recommend that PHARMAC be strongly encouraged to subsidise a wider range of effective cessation medicines.

According to the Report, the use of nicotine replacement therapy during a quit attempt doubles the chance that a smoker will quit. Nicotine replacement therapy reduces nicotine withdrawal symptoms which can include cravings for nicotine, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, sleep disturbances, decreased heart rate, increased appetite and weight gain. These symptoms all make quitting difficult.

The Report states that there are 5,000 deaths every year from smoking which makes tobacco New Zealand’s most dangerous drug and possibly it’s most addictive. “We also urge the Government to adopt the Report’s recommendation to halve tobacco consumption and smoking prevalence by 2015, followed by making New Zealand a smoke-free nation by 2025,” says Ian Johnson, Guild President and Auckland pharmacist.

The Report makes the following recommendations regarding community pharmacists being Quitcard providers: “We think that if community-based pharmacists were made Quitcard providers, smokers would benefit, as they could get a Quitcard and exchange it for nicotine replacement therapy in the same place. We recognise that to date, there has been a deliberate separation in the health sector between prescribing and dispensing, and that allowing pharmacists to be Quitcard providers would blur this line. However, nicotine replacement therapy is a special case, as Quitcards are not prescriptions, and the purpose of nicotine replacement therapy is very different from other subsidised medicines. We note that PHARMAC is currently reviewing the separation between prescribing and dispensing in the broader health sector, and encourage them to note that any means of making quitting easier should be encouraged.”

The Guild is a member of the Smokefree Coalition and Smokefree is one of its health partners. The organisation is passionate about supporting members so they can help their patients become smoke-free.

ENDS

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