About Quality Use of Medicines

Quality use of Medicines (QUM) is one of the central objectives of Australia's National Medicines Policy.

QUM can mean using more or less of a medicine or none at all. It can include prescription, over-the-counter, vitamin, herbal and natural medicines. It can have different meanings for different people:

• For an individual, it means using (or not using) medicines appropriately, safely and effectively and having the knowledge and tools to do so
• For health professionals, it means:
• • choosing the most appropriate and cost effective treatment; and
  • giving people the knowledge and skills to use medicines to their best effect
• For providers of health services and products, it means contributing to best practice through appropriate information, education and promotional activities
• For governments, it means developing public policy, health systems, regulation and education that support best medicines use
• For the media, it means reporting issues around use of medicines accurately and responsibly.

Why is QUM important?

Medicines are a part of most people’s lives. In any fortnight, around 7 in 10 Australians (and 9 in 10 older Australians) will have taken at least one medicine.¹

While there is no doubt that taking medicines saves lives and is often the most cost-effective or convenient form of treatment, it is also well-established that some medicines are inappropriately prescribed and used.

Studies have shown that more than 140,000 Australians are admitted to hospital every year as a result of problems with the use of medicines, including adverse reactions.²

In addition, Australia's expenditure on medicines from government spending on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule (PBS) needs to reflect appropriate medicine use if we are to sustain a viable health system into the future. QUM is about ensuring that all Australians have equitable access to high quality, safe and effective medicines. It also relies on rational use of those medicines.

In Australia, various processes are in place to achieve better health outcomes through QUM. A National Medicines Policy has been developed, and for more than a decade, individuals have done valuable work in research and service delivery to promote QUM.

The NPS was established by the Federal Government in March 1998 as the first national organisation to undertake work in QUM. Prior to our establishment there was no mechanism for drawing together and building on the valuable QUM work that had been done in the past.

References

1. 1995 National Health Survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
2. Second National Report on Patient Safety Improving Medication Safety, published by Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care, July 2002.

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