Following reports of pharmacies on the mainland selling out of painkillers, Tasmanian pharmacists have confirmed the state's supply of medicine has been largely unaffected.
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Latrobe Pharmacist John Dowling said while there have been reports of shortages on the mainland for certain medicines, the impact in the North and North-West was less severe.
"There's been a bit of a rush on paracetamol and ibuprofen, because they were told to stock up in case they get COVID," he said.
"Certainly those sorts of things have been a bit harder to get and some of the packet sizes and things have sold out."
Mr Dowling said while there has been an increase in the number of people seeking over the counter immune boosters and immune defence medication, most prescription medicines had been unaffected.
"The three major wholesalers have warehouses here, so they tend to keep a fair inventory," he said.
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Pharmacy Guild of Tasmania president Helen O'Byrne said early on in the pandemic some prescription medications had been impacted by global demand, but it was less of an issue now.
Ms O'Byrne said that the Therapeutic Goods Administration monitored all prescription medications for supply issues, which allowed pharmacists to develop alternatives to ensure a continuity of care.
"The TGA developed the list to alert pharmacists and the public to medicines experiencing supply issues, if a shortage is identified the pharmacist will then work with the customer to provide an alternative," she said.
The medicine shortage reports database managed by the TGA tracks medicines experiencing a shortage in Australia, including those arising from product discontinuation.
The TGA database reports that 249 medicines were unavailable, with 61 anticipated to be unavailable and 223 discontinued. The database also reported that 219 shortages had recently been resolved.
Within the database, some antibiotics, anticancer medications and immune boosters like monoclonal antibody medication were identified as having a critical shortage.
A report by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said of the 30 critical shortages, most were injectable steroids, antibiotics and anaesthetic agents - similar to shortages experienced in other countries.
Ms O'Byrne said there were no current shortages of prescription medication being experienced in Tasmania, explaining the issues faced by the mainland related to supply chain issues, not access to medicine.
Andrew Chounding is The Examiner's Health Reporter, if you have a health-related story please email Andrew.chounding@examiner.com.au
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