The Government and the Pharmacy Guild recognise that beneficial health outcomes can be achieved through the delivery of evidence based professional pharmacy programs and services. To this end the Fourth Agreement will provide $500 million in funding for professional pharmacy programs and services. This represents an increase from $400 million allocated under the Third Agreement.

The Fourth Agreement will continue to fund programs that were funded under the Third Agreement, such as Home Medicines Review, and it will fund new programs aimed at improving community health outcomes, such as in the areas of asthma, diabetes and communicable diseases.

For further information on Professional Pharmacy Programs and Services refer to Part 5 of the Fourth Agreement.

Tips that may allow you to reduce your drug expenses:

1. Talk to your health care provider or pharmacist, and ask if generic medicines could save you
money. Generic medicines are the same medicines as their brand name counterparts, but are available at lower cost.

2. Ask your provider or pharmacist if another, less costly, medicine could provide a similar
therapeutic treatment for you.

3. Ask your provider or pharmacist to review all the medicines you are taking to see if you still
need to take all of them. Sometimes, patients remain on a medicine when they no longer need to be, or one medicine may duplicate the treatment of another medicine you are also taking. Do not discontinue any medicine without your health care provider's permission.