Australian authorities have made a major rule change that would expand access to medical abortion pills by allowing more doctors and pharmacists to prescribe them.
In a surprising move, the Therapeutic Goods Administration removed restrictions on prescription medical abortion pills. These are usually used in the early stages of an unwanted pregnancy.
Australia Expands Access to Medical Abortion Pill
The MS-2 Step medication, also known as RU486 in some countries, was previously only allowed to be prescribed by a doctor with specialist certification and then provided by a pharmacist registered to dispense the product itself.
But the new changes allow the pill to be prescribed by any healthcare practitioner with appropriate qualifications and training, including nurse practitioners. Furthermore, authorities also decided to lift the restrictions on pharmacists.
Officials have also opted to include a warning in the medicine's product information that outlines the circumstances when someone should be referred to a doctor. In a statement, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Nicole Higgins said that the decision would improve access to the service for people living in rural and remote communities, as per the Daily Mail.
She said the TGA's changes would allow greater access to medical abortion for women nationwide and reduce unnecessary red tape for the GPs who provide the essential services.
Higgins added that GPs were better placed to provide holistic support and counseling on medical abortions. She noted that they were, more often than not, the only health services that are available in regional areas.
Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearny said the Australian government had no higher priority than strengthening primary care. She argued that the changes were welcome because they allowed trusted and highly skilled providers to provide sufficient care within their scope of practice.
Despite the change in the rules, GPs are warning that expanding access to the abortion pill is not the end of the road; they said that more action needs to be taken to increase the number of healthcare professionals that can prescribe the medical abortion pill, according to ABC.net.
Allowing More Doctors to Prescribe the Drug
The SPHERE Centre for research excellence, specializing in reproductive health, said that before the change, only one in 10 GPs were active prescribers of abortion drugs. This situation, the lack of prescribers, left 30% of Australian women with no local providers of abortion care in their area. Additionally, the situation was expected to worsen in remote parts of the country, where half the people cannot access it locally.
The situation comes as the abortion pill was first approved in the country in 2006 after a fierce political debate. It required a conscience vote in parliament to take the veto power of then-health minister Tony Abbott over the drug. However, it was not until six years later that MS Health started importing the pill.
Leanne Boase, the Australian College of Nursing Practitioners president, said that the change in the rules would make a massive difference in access. She added that for some time, it has been difficult for women to get access to the treatment because it needs to happen in the very early stages of pregnancy, said the Sydney Morning Herald.
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