Longer Read
Planning for disaster
Elizabeth McCourt has been a spearhead of planning the role of pharmacists in confronting disasters and pandemics. We discover what has inspired and motivated her passion for emergency planning At …
Focus on long COVID
How researchers are zeroing in on the self-targeted immune attacks that may lurk behind it, writes Matthew Woodruff, Emory University For almost three years, scientists have raced to understand the …
Arthritis: raising awareness and managing myths
The number of Australians living with arthritis continues to grow, while medication myths and knowledge gaps can delay diagnosis and hinder treatment One in seven Australians live with arthritis. This …
Show me the data: supporting medication adherence
How do you calculate or estimate a patient’s medication adherence to determine whether they need support? What data sources would enable pharmacists to offer the best support? In this article, …
Why do some people who take Paxlovid for COVID get ‘rebound’ symptoms?
Or why do they test positive again, like President Biden? asks Lara Herrero, Griffith University For many people with COVID, their recovery isn’t linear. United States President Joe Biden is …
A preventative measure
Pharmacists play a key role in prescribing, dispensing and counselling around emergency contraception, but there are still barriers to access Emergency contraception (EC) is an important tool in the arsenal …
COVID: Why we’re doing so badly
Australia’s response to COVID in the first 2 years was one of the best in the world. Why do we rank so poorly now? ask Michael Toole and Brendan Crabb …
Looking beyond COVID
RATs for flu exist – should we be self-testing for that too? Flu season has begun uncharacteristically early this year, and so far we’ve seen around 187,000 laboratory-confirmed cases, 1,323 hospitalisations, and …
Ouch, that hurts: assessing and managing children’s pain
A considered approach to children’s pain assessment and treatment can help ensure best-practice management in community pharmacy Studies show that, compared with adults, paediatric pain is frequently under-recognised and under-treated. …
How has COVID affected Australians’ health?
New report shows where we’ve failed and done well, writes Stephen Duckett, The University of Melbourne The SARS-CoV-2 virus was first detected in Australia on January 25 2020. Within two …
Biosimilars: still a work in progress
Evidence is pointing to most pharmacists still struggling to come to grips with their role in providing biosimilar medicines It’s now been seven years since the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee …
When RAT-testing for COVID, should you also swab your throat?
Should we also be using our rapid antigen test (RAT) to swab our throat, as some social media sources suggest? asks Thea Van De Mortel of Griffith University We’re now …