For more than a decade now, Australians from every corner of the country, in schools, businesses and community groups, have shown their support for Close the Gap by marking National Close the Gap Day on the third Thursday in March each year.
This National Close the Gap Day on 17 March presents an opportunity to send a clear message that Australians value health equality as a fundamental right for all.
The aim of National Close the Gap Day is to bring people together to share information, and most importantly, to take meaningful action in support of achieving health equality for First Nations Peoples by 2032.
The Pharmacy Guild is committed to the principle that the standard of healthcare for rural areas should be equal to the standards available in metropolitan areas.
The Guild’s rural and Indigenous health advocacy is guided by the principle that all Australians have a right to equity and access to community pharmacy services.
The Guild represents pharmacists who are the proprietors of community pharmacies.
Approximately 20 per cent of the nearly 6,000 community pharmacies across Australia are located within Categories 3-7 of the Modified Monash Model (MMM) geographical classification system.
The community pharmacy sector provides a highly qualified and skilled health professional workforce that can be better utilised to help to address problems of access to health services experienced by some seven million Australians living in regional, rural and remote areas.
There are approximately 566 towns in MMM 3-7 that have only one pharmacy, and in many cases, the pharmacist is the only health professional in town.
In these situations in particular, pharmacies are often the local hub for community healthcare services and general support for the local population, particularly for the elderly and unwell.
The Guild is committed to working closely with its members, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, communities, and all levels of government in Australia to develop and improve healthcare and health infrastructure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
To be effective in developing and improving health care services and health infrastructure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Guild continues to actively engage in a number of initiatives to assist in addressing the gap to improve access to affordable PBS medicines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with, or at risk of, chronic disease, and to deliver Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs under the Community Pharmacy Agreement, which strengthen patient services through community pharmacy.
The Guild will continue to advocate to all levels of Australian Government for serious reforms to the delivery of healthcare to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to hold these Governments accountable for any policy or program that provides an impediment to improvements in health.
