Page 19 - RP-MAY-2021

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW NEWS IN FOCUS 15 Kos Sclavos CHAIR, AUSTRALIAN PHARMACY PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE The former Guild president tells Retail Pharmacy why APP2021 will be very different from previous events, tackling many pandemic-driven issues that are still impacting community pharmacy and dealing with some important upcoming changes to pharmacy practice. What can we expect from APP2021? What a 16-month period it’s been with Covid-19! Because our TVs have been filled with death and devastation in overseas countries, for many there’s a collective sigh of relief that Australia has escaped the worst of it. This shouldn’t diminish the mental anguish that many pharmacy industry staff have felt, be it extended isolation from loved ones and friends, abusive patients/customers, business viability being put at risk, fear for the health of health-compromised loved ones, impact on home finances, etc. For this reason, just coming together again at Australia’s largest pharmacy event and reconnecting will be therapeutic. I implore my pharmacy colleagues to vocalise their feelings when they catch up with their friends and colleagues, and I also encourage them to take a few days away at the Gold Coast to enable a fresh external view of their pharmacy business. What are the key themes of APP2021? Covid has triggered many changes to pharmacy practice in the last 12 months and more are about to happen. There are so many current pharmacy issues that should be enticing pharmacists to attend APP2021. Let me highlight just a few. The Covid-19 pharmacy vaccination program is an enormous logistical exercise. The two-doses schedule needs to be managed and the process is linked to financial remuneration. The additional administration is significant and very different to flu vaccinations. Let’s not forget the key role pharmacy needs to play with flu vaccination in 2021. A reminder: the preferred minimum interval between a dose of seasonal influenza vaccine and a dose of BNT162b2 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[Pfizer\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\] or ChAdOx1-S \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[AstraZeneca\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\] is 14 days. All this needs to be managed. Have my colleagues thought about how to approach their patients in a formal systemised way to schedule bookings? The answers will be covered at APP2021. Active ingredient prescribing will have a significant impact on medical practices based on overseas analysis. In addition, adalimumab biosimilars have entered the market and pharmacists will have a key role to play. The enormous changes in electronic prescriptions will continue. The SafeScript real-time prescription monitoring system will start in additional jurisdictions. Electronic transfer of prescriptions (ETP) Active Script List is to be rolled out across Australia. How to transition from ETP Token Model will be key, as will be the role of pharmacists in explaining this optional extension for the patient, and if implemented, confusion for patients will be reduced and administration for pharmacy decreased. New therapeutic areas will be discussed. CBD cannabinoids as pharmacist only medicines will have a major impact on pharmacy practice, and pharmacists will be watched very carefully. Many in the medical profession say pharmacists won’t be able to implement this correctly. Additionally, the law for consumers to import nicotine e-cigarettes and liquid nicotine will align with the law for these products to be available domestically via a prescription and dispensed in a community pharmacy, while drug therapy protocols in certain jurisdictions will also change. Foot traffic in pharmacies has changed from pre-Covid days, with varying impacts. Online shopping has changed. Pharmacists need to keep pace with these changes, and there are key presentations on all related issues, such as pharmacy rentals. In summary, in terms of key agenda items, APP2021 will have the biggest program ever. Why will the trade exhibition also be so important at this year’s APP? Covid has impacted our supplier network with fewer service calls to pharmacy, and in some regions during full lockdown, no service calls at all. Across our hundreds of exhibitors, large and small, they too have been impacted by Covid to varying degrees and I’m keen for APP delegates to re-engage with our supplier network. I ask my pharmacist colleagues to support the companies that support APP. Any final messages? The federal government has provided significant financial support via grants to our sponsors, exhibitors and delegates to participate in APP. We’re grateful for that support. The Guild is working very hard to put on a great program and conference. Stay safe and I hope to see you at APP! RETAIL PHARMACY • MAY 2021