Pill testing decision needs further consideration

Transcript: AMA Queensland President, Dr Nick Yim, ABC Radio Brisbane, Breakfast with Craig and Loretta, Monday 25 November 2024

Subjects: Pill testing, flu vaccines

LORETTA RYAN: The LNP looking at a few health things. Two fixed pill testing sites firstly will be forced to shut up shop after the new government confirmed there'll be no more funding provided to the scheme. We'd heard talk about this.

CRAIG ZONCA: Yeah, it was an initiative started from the Miles Labor Government earlier in the year with $1 million investment into evaluating the effectiveness of drug checking services over the next two years. But it'll now end early, with the Health Minister, Tim Nicholls, announcing both the Bowen Hills and Burleigh Heads locations will close in early 2025.

TIM NICHOLLS: Queensland portion of the trial’s finished and out of that, so the program cost $215,000, I think we've done 27 tests of pills over that whole week. Twenty-seven was the number that I got, I'm relying on the numbers from Queensland Health in relation to it. So as at 5pm on Friday, 27 tests done at a cost of $8,000 per test, and a thousand people had actually come in to get advice and we're grateful for that to occur. So, we're going to analyse those numbers and work out whether the proposition is that it should be something that should be considered.

CRAIG ZONCA: So that's the Health Minister, Tim Nicholls, talking about the trial that was held at Schoolies for pill testing. In addition to that, both these Bowen Hills and Burleigh Heads locations will close early next year.

LORETTA RYAN: It's a decision being called into question by the Australian Medical Association of Queensland. Dr Nick Yim is the President of AMA Queensland. Nick, firstly, what do you think about this decision?

DR NICK YIM: I think this decision is quite concerning and we urge Minister Nicholls just to wait for the independent report before making any final decisions. As he mentioned, it's brilliant that a thousand people have visited that pill testing site because it's a thousand people that now would have got education and also support regarding illicit drug use.

LORETTA RYAN: Well, that's the purpose of these pill testing facilities. Do some people have concerns though?

DR NICK YIM: What we're hearing from many of these sites is it’s not just your stereotypical illicit drugs, your amphetamines, dexamphetamines that are being tested. We're actually seeing weight loss drugs, antidepressants. And that's a result of, unfortunately, the cost of living where people cannot afford medications from our regular pharmacies. They are relying on the internet. So, it's not just your stereotypical amphetamines that we're seeing come through, it's actually other medications too that are being tested.

LORETTA RYAN: And what will happen if these two sites in particular shut up shop?

DR NICK YIM: That's the uncertainty, isn't it? We know a lot of our healthcare is about prevention, and what we're hearing from overseas is that there is a rise of synthetic narcotics, which are very strong, higher strength than morphine, and that can lead to unintended overdoses and hospitalisations, adding pressure to the healthcare system.

LORETTA RYAN: They can’t, and they probably wouldn't just go to hospitals, would they? I mean, this is about testing sites and getting education but is there somewhere else they could go willingly and feel okay about going there?

DR NICK YIM: What this program has demonstrated is the availability of anonymous advice. People want to feel supported and sometimes those healthcare facilities aren't the best locations for that.

CRAIG ZONCA: Twenty past seven, Dr Nick Yim with you on ABC Brisbane. He's the President of the Australian Medical Association in Queensland. Something else came out from the Health Minister's press conference yesterday, it was in relation to the free flu vaccination program, and whether that will continue or not. Here's what Tim Nicholls had to say.

TIM NICHOLLS: Queensland is the only state that's doing that at the moment, and the other states and the Commonwealth have some views about that. And there's a Health Ministers’ meeting coming up in Hobart on 6 December. I'll have a discussion with health ministers in relation to that and the universality of it. If people only lived in Queensland and didn't travel in the rest of Australia, that'd be fine. But they don't. They cross borders, they move around and they travel. So we'll look at how efficient it's been, whether more people have taken up the flu jab as a result of it, and make some decisions around it.

CRAIG ZONCA: What would you be advocating for, Dr Nick Yim, as to whether that program should continue or not?

DR NICK YIM: Over the past couple of years, Queensland has definitely led the way with immunisations and health prevention. We've seen the free flu vaccine, RSV vaccine, meningococcal. And we've seen over the past year, there's been a significant increase of flu cases. It's about preventing those individuals that do get the flu from getting complications and needing our hospital service that's already under pressure.

CRAIG ZONCA: But is it something that Queensland should fund or the federal government in your mind?

DR NICK YIM: In my mind, regardless of whether it's state or federal, it needs to be funded. And at the same time, we need to know pretty soon because our GPs and pharmacists need to start stocking them.

CRAIG ZONCA: And what has been the vaccination rate like in Queensland with that free vaccination program as opposed to other states?

DR NICK YIM: It's early numbers, but our vaccine rates unfortunately, over the past couple of years due to many reasons, has been fatiguing. But I imagine if the vaccination wasn't free, I think our rates would be significantly lower.

LORETTA RYAN: Surely they'd keep it free for at-risk groups, you'd think?

DR NICK YIM: At-risk groups, they will be covered under the federal scheme. But I think it's something where we do know that even, say the younger population, they're the ones that still can get the flu and also spread it to at-risk groups that can't be immunised, for example.

LORETTA RYAN: I would think that after the years that we've had with COVID and then the increase of flu numbers, it's something you'd want to keep track of. Some good news though out of the Health Minister with a renewed commitment to support the fight against RSV.

DR NICK YIM: Absolutely. RSV is something that we have seen many young people contract the illness and become unwell. At the same time, more recently, we've seen more the elderly become unwell with RSV.

CRAIG ZONCA: So that program will continue for vaccinations, about RSV?

DR NICK YIM: Absolutely. So that RSV vaccine hopefully will continue for the children.

CRAIG ZONCA: Thanks for your time, Dr Nick Yim. Appreciate it.

DR NICK YIM: Always appreciate it. Thank you.

Contact: AMA Queensland Media:  +61 419 735 641                    media@amaq.com.au