Wellington, 7 Sept: New Zealand's government has begun rolling-out a new national drug formulary, which it says will be a "true one-stop-shop covering clinical information as well as classification and subsidy status" on medicines.

"Whether prescribing, dispensing or administering a medicine, the New Zealand Medicines Formulary (NZMF) will be the first reference resource for health professionals wanting information on those medicines," said Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne, announcing the Formulary's roll-out this week.

The NZMF Project Steering Group has selected a partnership between the Best Practice Advocacy Centre New Zealand (BPACnz), Best Practice Advocacy Centre Inc (BPACinc) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain as the preferred supplier.

The Formulary is expected to be rolled out across the sector within 12 months.

In May 2020, as the foundation of the Formulary, the government launched the New Zealand Universal List of Medicines (NZULM), to counter the problems presented by the several different lists and schedules used to provide information on what medicines are approved for use in New Zealand, those which are subsidised by the government and which are dispensed to patients.

Source: Pharmatimes, UK