Lessening the burden of chronic conditions

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Lessening the burden of chronic conditions

By Katrina Azer
Elderly couple
Funding pharmacists to ensure patients take their medicines can save on pharmaceutical expenditure and save lives, Katrina Azer writes[Image: Annie Spratt on Unsplash]

After years of talking to patients with long-term conditions about their medications, Christchurch pharmacist Katrina Azer critiques existing services and urges a new approach for the good of patients and health-sector budgets

Pharmaceutical expenditure has been rising steadily over the last few years, with the Pharmac budget for 2021/22 at $1.085 billion While all ener
References

1 - Ministry of Health. 2009. Report on New Zealand Cost-of-Illness Studies on Long-Term Conditions. Wellington: Ministry of Health. https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/nz-cost-of-illness-jul09.pdf

2 - Deaths caused by diabetes mellitus (all types) in New Zealand - Figure.nz https://figure.nz/chart/jFmzkvRLFLUeU0Zd-ViULDwwJPdYD6lk5

3 - Ministry of Health - Budget 2021: Vote Health https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/what-we-do/budget-2021-vote-health#:~:text=PHARMAC's%20ongoing%20medicines%20budget%20for,now%20a%20record%20%241.085%20billion

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8 - Report: The economic impact of nonadherence: Microsimulation modelling for HIV/AIDS in NZ NZAE Conference paper May 2012 - Chris Schilling, Bill Kaye-Blake, James Allen, and Lulu Zeng

9 - Lynne T - Drug non-adherence "costing NHS £500M+ a year": PharmaTimes https://www.pharmatimes.com/news/drug_non-adherence_costing_nhs_500m_a_year_1004468#:~:text=People%20who%20do%20not%20take,a%20new%20study%20has%20reported