Community Update was formerly known as Community e.news.

September 2007

Community e.news is published by NPS with the aim of keeping consumers and community organisations updated on what NPS and others are doing to promote quality use of medicines (QUM) in the community.

In this edition:

Prexige recall

• TGA withdraws anti-inflammatory drug

Community Quality Use of Medicines Program

• Meet the Community Quality use of Medicines (CQUM) team
• Common colds need common sense, not antibiotics
• Get to know your medicines
• Generic medicines are an equal choice

Partnership activities

• Multicultural Families get to know their medicines
• NPS presents at Empowerment and Inclusion Congress
• National Peer Educators Forum proclaimed a success
• Indigenous communities start Good Medicine Better Health training

Other projects and information

• Seniors get to choose medicines wisely
• NPS 'moves on' with Arthritis NSW
• Osteoarthritis doesn't have to be a total pain
• Diabetes management: more than medicines
• Chronic conditions launched into cyberspace

Other NPS news

• Stakeholder Reference Groups are underway
• Kate More appointed to NPS board
• Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA) joins NPS

Publications

• MedicinesTalk looks at buying medicines online
• NPS launches Medicine Update
• Australian Prescriber highlights new depression research

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Prexige recall

TGA withdraws anti-inflammatory drug

Prexige, a Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID), has been withdrawn by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) because of a small number of cases of serious liver side effects.

If you take Prexige, stop taking it immediately and see your doctor to discuss an alternative to this drug and to arrange any tests you may need.

According to National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) CEO, Dr Lynn Weekes, patients need to remember that all medicines can have side effects. Sometimes the side effects are serious but most of the time they are not. "With all drugs, the potential benefits of use must be balanced against the risks of use," she said.

NPS recommends that all NSAIDs should be used for the shortest possible time and used intermittently for symptomatic relief, or before painful activities.

Patients with any concerns should immediately consult with their doctor or pharmacist to find the best possible management options for their condition.

If you cannot see your doctor, talk to your pharmacist or ring the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) info line on 1800 004 599 or Novartis Pharmaceuticals on 1800 671 203 or NPS Medicines Line on 1300 888 763.

 

• NPS media release
• TGA media statement
• TGA recall notice
• Novartis media release

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Community Quality Use of Medicines (CQUM) Program

Meet the CQUM team

The CQUM team is a growing group of dedicated staff working on health promotion strategies with a range of community partners.

CQUM priorities:

• Community antibiotics
• National awareness campaigns, resources and services
• Health professional settings

CQUM target populations:

• Seniors
• People with a chronic condition
• Multicultural communities
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

Meet the CQUM team:

Left to right: Fran Ibrahim; Carlo Jacobson, Leah Stevenson, Hannah Baird (CQUM Program Manager), Jackie Stephenson, Anita Maberly, Linden Rhodes, and Greg Ford. Other team members, Margaret Artist and Katherine Vaughan (who is on maternity leave), were not available for the photo shoot. Susan Goodman joined the CQUM team on August 27.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss working in partnership with CQUM, please contact us.

Common colds need common sense, not antibiotics

Every winter NPS runs the common colds need common sense, not antibiotics campaign. The campaign aims to reduce the use of antibiotics in the treatment of common colds.

This year, the campaign has also aimed to remind the community that simple hygiene practices, such as washing your hands, can help stop the spread of colds and flu-like symptoms.

The current campaign has been one of the most successful. Over 100 health professionals volunteered to assist 160 childcare centres with common colds staff updates, 120 primary schools registered for the writing competition and staff update, and there has been a five-fold increase in the number of stories published in the media about antibiotics not working on common colds. Further campaign results will be made available later in the year.

Get to know your medicines

The Get to know your medicines National Awareness Campaign was launched in early August this year.

Television commercials, a campaign website, extensive distribution of campaign resources, and local community activity are being used to improve the ability of consumers to recognise credible and reliable sources of medicines information, and to increase consumer awareness, confidence, skills and knowledge about medicines.

The campaign is being run over two stages. The first stage runs from August 6 to September 15 and focuses on Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) generally. The second stage runs from September 16 to October 31 and focuses on generic medicines.

The campaign is the result of extensive consultation with Community Quality Use of Medicines (CQUM) Working Group members, and consumer, health professional and academic representatives.

In particular, National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) acknowledges the valuable contribution of the following campaign partners:

• Consumers' Health Forum of Australia (CHF) helped NPS develop seven medicines fact sheets for the campaign.
• Council on the Ageing (COTA) peer educator volunteers are running the campaign medicines information sessions. Also, COTA managers and peer educator volunteers are featured in the campaign newsletter, on nearly every page of the Get to know your medicines website, and have agreed to be available as media interviewees.
• Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA) helped NPS develop the medimate bilingual brochures, which assist diverse communities to access 'Get to know your medicines' campaign information.
• Medicare Australia distributed campaign resources to Medicare outlets and Medicare health professional publication subscribers.

Generic medicines are an equal choice

The second stage of the Get to know your medicines campaign will inform consumers that generic medicines are an equal choice.

Research shows that 91 per cent of consumers are aware of generic medicines and, of those, up to 79 per cent would probably or definitely consider using generic prescription medicines in the future (Stancombe Research & Planning, 2005 #34 and Roy Morgan Research, 2005 #31). However, both studies showed that consumers are not sure how they can tell if a generic medicine is equivalent to a brand name medicine and whether or not it is wise to switch.

Running from September 16 to October 31, the second stage of the campaign will assist consumers in making wise choices about generic medicines. It will focus on making consumers aware that 'generic medicines are an equal choice', and encouraging consumers to 'ask your doctor or pharmacist, or call Medicines Line for more information'.

The campaign is inclusive of health professionals, including pharmacy assistants.

For more information, contact us.

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Partnership Activities

Multicultural families get to know their medicines

The Families get to know their medicines Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) trial curriculum was officially launched at the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA) Conference in Hobart in July this year.

The seven-week curriculum provides learning materials for students aged 10 to 16 and includes take home activities to educate families and carers about QUM. It is being run as a pilot project in Queensland, with approximately 1000 students from Chinese, Greek and Vietnamese backgrounds.

The curriculum and take home activities are based on the theory that information is more readily shared in a family environment, particularly between bilingual children with English speaking skills and other non-English speaking family members. The information sharing takes place in situations akin to sitting at the 'kitchen table'. None of the information in the curriculum and take home activities is specifically targeted towards individual medication needs but rather raising quality use of medicines awareness.

NPS, FECCA, Community Languages Australia, the Queensland LOTE Centre (Languages Other than English), and the Ethnic Schools Association of Queensland have worked together to develop the curriculum. The Queensland After Hours Ethnic Schooling Program is delivering the curriculum.

"An enormous amount of work has gone into this project, and I need to acknowledge the hard work put in by the FECCA secretariat and the LOTE Centre," said Hannah Baird, NPS Community QUM Program Manager.

Bilingual information and frequently asked questions and answers about the trial are available on the NPS website.

NPS presents at Empowerment and Inclusion Congress

National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) staff presented papers at the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA) Congress in Hobart in August this year.

During the policy roundtable: Issues of Diversity and Health in Australia, NPS Community Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) Program Manager Hannah Baird presented a paper on the NPS Multicultural Program.

NPS program officer Anita Maberly officially launched Families get to know their medicines curriculum trial now running in Queensland, in particular acknowledging the significant contribution of the trial program partners.

The Congress recommendations will be available soon on the FECCA website.

National Peer Educators' Forum proclaimed a success

Volunteer Senior Peer Educators from around Australia met at a national forum in Sydney recently to celebrate and share their experiences, and to develop ideas to improve seniors Quality Use of Medicines (QUM).

Some 126 Peer Educators from across Australia attended the May 9 and 10 Forum. Presentations from peer educators were a special feature of the event.

Dr Lynn Weekes CEO NPS & Phil Herreen
2007 Australian Senior of the year

ACT peer educators and staff

The following positive comments were representative of feedback about the Forum:

• "It was good to know how many people have come together to make a difference".
• "Meeting out-of-state peer educators and NPS and COTA personnel — such a great team! And so approachable".
• "To re-establish for myself why I volunteer and what I get out of it!"

Peer Educators deliver free medicines information sessions. They are recruited and trained by the Council on the Ageing (COTA) in partnership with National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS).

Indigenous communities start Good Medicine Better Health training

The Good Medicines Better Health Outcomes Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) training project, relating to asthma, hypertension and type 2 diabetes within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, started in July this year.

The training is the result of two years research and collaboration between the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia (AHCSA); National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO); other Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, including the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service Council, Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service and Victoria Aboriginal Health Service; and National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS).

Nine Aboriginal Health Workers from Melbourne, the Kimberly and Port Lincoln are currently participating in the NPS-funded training, which is aligned with the National Health Training Package units of competency. This alignment ensures formal recognition of Aboriginal Health Workers' program achievements.

The training includes a minimum of two sessions, ongoing support of local trainers and a comprehensive evaluation of the training outcomes. The outcomes will inform the development of a national training scheme.

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Other Projects

Seniors get to choose medicines wisely

A new medicines information module, Brand name or generic medicine? Choosing wisely, was launched by the National Prescribing Service (NPS) Seniors Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) Program early this year.

The module has been added to the free medicines information sessions conducted by Council on the Ageing (COTA) senior peer educators. COTA is an NPS QUM partner.

As Australians are increasingly considering making a choice between generic and brand name medicines, disseminating information to seniors about generic medicines is important.

The new module educates seniors about the following:

• A generic medicine has the same active ingredient as the original brand medicine.
• Get to know your medicine choices.
• There are many generic medicines available so you may often be asked to make a choice.
• In Australia, all prescription medicines, including generic medicines, have to meet the same Government quality standards.
• Talk openly with your doctor or pharmacist about generic medicines.

NPS 'moves on' with Arthritis NSW

The National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) has recently formed a partnership with Arthritis NSW to develop and evaluate a self-management medicines and lifestyle choices education session. The session, 'Getting the most out of your medicines', will form part of Arthritis NSW's 'Moving on' with chronic illness program, and focuses on:

• Selecting your medicines wisely.
• Choosing suitable medicines if a medicine is considered necessary.
• Using your medicines safely and effectively.

For more information view the MedicinesTalk winter 2007 edition.

Osteoarthritis doesn't have to be a total pain

Do you want to minimise osteoarthritis pain and stiffness? The Winter 2007 edition of MedicinesTalk urges you to speak with your doctor and other health professionals about medicines and physical activity that can improve the quality of your life.

Diabetes management: more than medicine

Reminders about the quality use of medicines and encouraging doctors and consumers to look at the best possible blend of medicines and lifestyle factors to manage diabetes were highlighted by NPS during Diabetes Week in July this year.

When medicines are required to manage diabetes, getting to know your medicines is important. This includes talking with your doctor or pharmacist to ensure that you select your medicines management options wisely, choose suitable medicines, decide if a medicine is considered necessary, and use medicines safely and effectively.

But, while medicines play an essential role in managing some consumers' diabetes, lifestyle factors are also important. Eating healthy food, quitting smoking, and increasing your physical activity are some of the lifestyle factors essential for managing diabetes and may even improve how well your medicine works.

Chronic Conditions launched into cyber space

Medicines tips and other information that will help you manage type 2 diabetes and chronic pain are now available.

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Other NPS news

Stakeholder Reference Groups

The National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) has finished hosting the 2007 Stakeholder Reference Groups (SRGs).

This year's five SRGs focused on specific health sectors and involved member organisations as well as representatives from across the medicines industry.

The first SRG was on Acute Care and was held in Melbourne on June 26. This was followed by Population Health in Canberra on July 4, Residential Aged Care in Canberra on July 31, Improving Health Outcomes in Sydney on 10 August, and Continuity of Care in Sydney on August 22.

An SRG outcomes report will be issued to all attendees. The findings will assist NPS planning. For further information contact us.

Kate Moore appointed to NPS board

Kate Moore has recently been appointed as Consumer Class Director on the National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) Board. Ms Moore is the Chair of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Health Council, which advises the ACT Health Minister and Chief Executive on health service policy and practice; a member of the Executive Committee of the Health Care Consumers' Association of the ACT; and Chair of the Health Care Consumers' Association of the ACT Policy Sub-Committee as well as a member of several other committees.

With a Masters degree in Public Policy from ANU, Ms Moore previously held the position of Executive Director, Consumers' Health Forum of Australia (CHF), for seven years. At CHF she was involved in providing strategic leadership to CHF and giving policy advice to the Australian Government and other stakeholders on a range of health issues.

Currently, Ms Moore is working as a consultant on various projects, such as assessing the 2006 Quality of Care Reports published by public health services in Victoria. She has also been a special adviser to the Healthcare Management Advisors' project that reviewed the Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Committee.

FECCA joins NPS

The Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA) has become National Prescribing Service Limited's (NPS) 44th member organisation.

FECCA is the peak, national body representing and advocating for Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

"We have had a long history of cooperation with FECCA and I am delighted that they have accepted NPS's invitation to join our member organisations", said NPS Chair Dr Roger Boyd. "This will further cement our already strong relationship and will pave the way for future cooperation."

NPS and FECCA have worked together since 2004, planning and implementing programs with multicultural communities to improve the understanding and use of medicines.

The partnership works well as FECCA contributes their expertise in working with multicultural communities, while NPS contributes its understanding of QUM and health promotion principles.

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Publications

MedicinesTalk looks at buying medicines online

Be alert to the dangers of buying medicines on the internet, as you could end up buying and taking inappropriate medicines that cause serious side effects.

Consumers need to be aware that, although many legitimate websites sell medicines, there are many other websites that sell out of date, poor quality, contaminated or even fake medicines.

Consumers can protect themselves by avoiding overseas websites. Even if the brand name is similar, medicines bought overseas may have different ingredients from the brand sold in Australia.

Consumers should consider the following:

• Never buy medicines from a website that does not give its full postal address. It could be a fake site.
• If buying prescription medicines from online pharmacies, buy only from sites that ask you to produce a valid prescription from a doctor.
• Beware of sites that offer revolutionary, new, miracle, or guaranteed cures. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Other articles published in the winter edition of MedicinesTalk include Managing the pain of osteoarthritis; 'Moving on' with chronic illness; and What's in a name?

NPS launches Medicine Update

Medicine Update is a new National Prescribing Service (NPS) publication designed for consumers who want to find out about newly-listed PBS medicines. It will also help health professionals when they are discussing medicines with their patients. The first edition reviewed the NSAID lumiracoxib (Prexige), which has since been withdrawn from the market.

The next edition will review alendronate (Fosamax Once Weekly, Fosamax Plus, and Alendro Once Weekly), which is used to treat osteoporosis. The following edition will review fluticasone with salmeterol (Seretide), which is used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Medicine Update does not replace Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) leaflets. You can read Medicine Update online.

Australian Prescriber highlights new depression research

Depression frequently goes undiagnosed in patients being treated for medical illnesses, which often results in unnecessary investigations and procedures, increased disability and increased costs to the community, says an article in the latest Australian Prescriber.

Some 30 per cent of patients attending a neurological clinic had significant symptoms of depressive illness, but physicians failed to recognise that 72 per cent of these patients were experiencing depression, according to the article's authors, Dr James Oliver and Professor Graham Burrows of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne.

Oliver and Burrows say the prevalence of depression following acute ischaemic heart disease may be as high as 30 per cent, and in cancer patients, after the diagnosis, the risk of depression is as high as 55 per cent.

The authors state that proper health management requires a collaborative treatment approach and a good rapport with the patient and their family.

Australian Prescriber is an independent peer-reviewed journal providing critical commentary on therapeutic topics for health professionals, particularly doctors in general practice. It is published by NPS.

You can read Australian Prescriber online.

National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) is an independent, non-profit organisation for Quality Use of Medicines. We provide accurate, balanced, evidence-based information and services to help people choose if, when and how to use medicines to improve their health and wellbeing. We are member-based and work in partnership with health professionals, government, pharmaceutical industry and consumers. NPS is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

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