Pharmacists seek funding for medicine deliveries

A pharmacists’ group is calling on the government to allocate money under the anti-epidemic fund to help pay for the delivery of medicine to people in need.

The Practising Pharmacists Association of Hong Kong said it has been providing medicine courier services for a year, so that vulnerable people don’t have to go to high-risk places for Covid, like hospitals and clinics.

The association said around 200 pharmacists and pharmacists’ assistants have taken part in supervising the delivery of medicine, to make sure prescriptions are properly dispatched to patients’ homes.

A few thousand people have used the service to receive medicine or health supplements since its launch, the group said, and it has now launched a new platform called “Medsgo” to take orders online.

But the association’s president, Iris Chang, said patients have to pay HK$100 per delivery and she hopes the government can subsidise the service.

“We’re asking the chief executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, to allocate funds in the anti-pandemic fund to urgently put in place the funding that’s necessary to deliver these medicines under the supervision of pharmacists, to the elderly living alone, chronically ill patients, disabled patients, immunocompromised people, those over 70-years-old, pregnant women, or anyone who’s in need,” she said.

Chang added that she hopes the government will start off by reserving a few million dollars for the initiative, and possibly more when it becomes popular.