Generating real-world evidence on the quality use, benefits and safety of medicines in australia: History, challenges and a roadmap for the future

SA Pearson; N Pratt; JDO Costa; H Zoega; TL Laba; C Etherton-Beer; FM Sanfilippo; A Morgan; LK Ellett; C Bruno; E Kelty; M Ijzerman; DB Preen; CM Vajdic; D Henry

Journal article

Generating real-world evidence on the quality use, benefits and safety of medicines in australia: History, challenges and a roadmap for the future

SA Pearson, N Pratt, JDO Costa, H Zoega, TL Laba, C Etherton-Beer, FM Sanfilippo, A Morgan, LK Ellett, C Bruno, E Kelty, M Ijzerman, DB Preen, CM Vajdic, D Henry

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | Published : 2021

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182413345

Open access

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Abstract

Australia spends more than $20 billion annually on medicines, delivering significant health benefits for the population. However, inappropriate prescribing and medicine use also result in harm to individuals and populations, and waste of precious health resources. Medication data linked with other routine collections enable evidence generation in pharmacoepidemiology; the science of quantifying the use, effectiveness and safety of medicines in real-world clinical practice. This review details the history of medicines policy and data access in Australia, the strengths of existing data sources, and the infrastructure and governance enabling and impeding evidence generation in the field. Cu..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Maarten IJzerman Author

David Henry Author

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

This review is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence in Medicines Intelligence (GNT1196900); H.Z. is supported by a UNSW Scientia Fellowship; E.K. is supported by an NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellowship (APP1172978); C.B. is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.