20 April 2016 - A delegation of Guild members from the Northern Territory and Western Australia visited Canberra this week to advocate for equitable remuneration for the dispensing of chronic disease prescriptions under the Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services (RAAHS) Program.

During the two-day whirlwind visit, members met with the Department of Health, the offices of the Minister for Health, Minister for Rural Health, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, the Prime Minister, and with their local MPs, including Members for Solomon (NT) and Durack (WA).

The RAAHS Program is a special supply arrangement administered under Section 100 (s100) of the National Health Act 1953.

Under the program, patients receive their medicines from a community pharmacy, enabling these Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines to be provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as they present to the RAAHS without the need for a normal prescription form and without being charged.

The program was implemented in 1999 to address the geographical, cultural and financial barriers that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in remote areas face in accessing essential PBS medicines.

For more details, go to: http://www.guild.org.au/news-events/forefront/forefront-article/2016/04/20/guild-member-delegation-calls-for-fairer-s100-arrangements?_cldee=d29uZGVyZHJ1Z0BvcHR1c25ldC5jb20uYXU%3d&utm_source=ClickDimensions&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=forefront&urlid=4