NPS MedicineWise will lose its uncontested funding in January if the new government doesn’t intervene.
Australia’s national prescribing service, which quietly had its funding slashed in this year’s budget, has created a petition to save its independent journal.
NPS MedicineWise, which publishes Australian Prescriber, currently receives the majority of its funding from the federal government.
From January 2023, the funding from the Department of Health to deliver quality use of medicines education programs will no longer go uncontested, and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care will take on the quality use of medicines “stewardship” functions.
Just prior to the May election, Health Minister Mark Butler promised to review this decision.
Mr Butler’s office confirmed with The Medical Republic that a rapid, independent review of the funding decision commenced in July, led by Deloitte economist Dr Pradeep Philip.
The outcome of Dr Philip’s review will then be considered by Mr Butler, who will make the ultimate call on whether to proceed as planned.
As it stands, though, there’s a good chance that NPS MedicineWise could lose a significant amount of funding in just five months’ time.
Any change in funding arrangement will have an impact on Australian Prescriber, the organisation argued in an online petition which has been signed by almost 6000 people at time of writing.
“We also appreciate that the content of Australian Prescriber is determined by an independent Editorial Executive Committee of clinicians,” the petition reads.
“The information in Australian Prescriber is therefore trustworthy and relevant to Australian practice.
“Independence from the pharmaceutical industry reduces the risks of conflicts of interest.”
The petition specifically requested that the review of NPS MedicineWise funding ensures the ongoing publication of the journal, and urged Mr Butler to keep backing the national prescribing service.
