ZOOM Pharmacy\u2019s Din Redzepagic on why nearly a third of New Zealanders don\u2019t take their meds \u2014 and what it\u2019s costing our health system. <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s an astonishing figure: about 30% of all New Zealanders prescribed medicines by their doctors either don\u2019t take their medicines as directed or don\u2019t pick
\n up their prescriptions at all.\n <\/p>\n
Reported in separate New Zealand studies, that fact is constantly front of mind for those at ZOOM Pharmacy, a free* medicine delivery service for Kiwi patients pioneered back in 2017.<\/p>\n
Din Redzepagic, ZOOM\u2019s Pharmacy Director, says there are two major repercussions arising from that remarkable 30% segment of our society.<\/p>\n
Firstly, people who haven\u2019t taken their medicines will likely have worsened health outcomes; and secondly, the major effect those worsened outcomes have on New Zealand\u2019s already strained health system.<\/p>\n
ZOOM\u2019s business plan is built around delivery of medicines to those who need them, particularly those with chronic conditions (diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues) requiring long-term medications.<\/p>\n
Redzepagic can see a near future where 10-15% and \u201cmaybe more\u201d of New Zealand\u2019s medicines will be delivered directly to patients.<\/p>\n
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The alternative \u2013 the continuance of 30% of patients not taking their meds \u2013 is both alarming and unacceptable, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact is that people who don\u2019t take their medicines will have to go to hospital more than those who do \u2013 they will be in hospital for longer, they have a greater risk of dying,\u201d says Redzepagic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhereas those who take their medicines will have shorter stays in hospital and are much more likely to make a full recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s called Medicines Adherence (MA) and it\u2019s a global concern. Research on the cost of poor MA in New Zealand is scarce, but one recent study estimated Europe suffers a $244 billion health bill annually, plus 200,000 untimely deaths, as countries cope with the result of prescription non-compliance. <\/p>\n
ZOOM has made a dent in poor MA in New Zealand, according to one nationwide study of 218,000 people taking diabetes medicines. Its delivery service, the biggest of its kind in New Zealand, helped produce the highest MA among that group at 82.6%<\/p>\n
So who are the Kiwis not taking their medicines \u2013 and why not?<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout a third are those who see their doctor and take their medicines as required,\u201d Redzepagic says. \u201cAnother third take some of their meds \u2013 they might spin out a three-month course to four months, for example, or forget. Finally, there is about a third who never, ever present to a pharmacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people \u2013 particularly in low socio-economic sectors \u2013 are put off by the costs. It might be the $5 co-payment charge, or it might be indirect costs like having to take time off work and waiting for 40 minutes, petrol costs and the like.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have worked in low socio-economic areas and believe me, some people just say, \u2018Sorry, can\u2019t afford it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
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