Growing shortages of essential palliative care medicines in Australia are having a devastating impact on patients, especially those nearing the end of life, and the clinicians who care for them.
“Patients are suffering unnecessarily, enduring heightened pain and distress, because the medications that typically control their symptoms are either unavailable or prohibitively expensive,” says Dr Peter Allcroft, Chair, Palliative Care Australia.
“I am even aware of people ending up in hospital as a result of not being able to access the medicines they need – adding to the distress families feel and placing further pressure on our overstretched hospital system.”
Despite sector representations to the Minister for Health, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Department of Health and Aged Care, there has been little progress toward ensuring a stable supply of these life-changing drugs.
“A collective of seven organisations wrote to parliamentarians in early December trying to escalate this issue after months and months of slow or no progress, people, including children are dying without adequate pain relief,” Dr Allcroft says.
In fact, the situation has been building for several years and has become especially challenging in the past 12 months as global supply chains and pharmaceutical companies falter and reprioritise.
Most of the affected medicines are vital opioid analgesics that have been used for decades to manage severe pain and other symptoms in palliative care patients. With the supply of these drugs becoming increasingly uncertain, clinicians are forced to prescribe less effective alternatives, resulting in less reliable pain relief and risking unwanted side effects.
Adding to the distress is cost, with many of the alternative medications not subsidised through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). One of the most startling examples is hydromorphone SR, which costs the public $182 for 32mg. The overseas alternative, which is not PBS-listed, is $4209 for 100 tablets – 23 times more expensive!
As part of the ‘better access to palliative care’ campaign leading up to the federal election, PCA has launched an 11 point plan to resolve this ongoing issue.
“Those responsible seem stuck for answers, so we have collaborated with our members and six other leading health and care organisations to help lead the way,” Dr Allcroft says.
“Our recommendations centre on establishing a national stockpile of critical medicines, fostering domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing, strengthening the PBS, and empowering the TGA.
“400 people die every day of a terminal illness; limited or no access to these critical medications has a ripple effect through families and communities – it can leave loved ones with lifelong trauma.”
So far, close to 20,000 people have signed the ‘better access to palliative care’ petition, with more signatures every day.
“Australians want action on this and are supporting our plan in the run up to the election,” Dr Allcroft says.
“We remain hopeful that those who want to make up the 48th parliament of Australia will respond and work with us to fix this so that quality of life at the end of life can be delivered to every Australian.
The following organisations have developed and are fully supportive of the 11 point plan to resolve medicine shortages:
- Palliative Care Australia
- Australia New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine
- Advanced Pharmacy Australia
- Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
- Palliative Care Nurses Australia
- Pain Australia
- Aged and Community Care Providers Association
The 11 point plan forms part of Palliative Care Australia’s 2025 Federal Election Platform and can be viewed and downloaded HERE.
Contact details:
Ian Campbell
P: 0417 482 171
E: ian.campbell@palliativecare.org.au