Asthma inhaler claims rejected

Alex Hickey
Claims that a Pharmac-funded asthma inhaler will be "repugnant" to Muslims and alcoholics have been denied by Hawke's Bay experts.
Pharmac, the Ministry of Health's drug purchasing agency, has approved a "sole supply" contract for Salamol, an inhaler which contains ethanol (an alcoholic compound).
The "new" puffer will be available on prescription from July 1 but other versions such as Ventolin will be available only to fee-paying patients.
Asthma New Zealand has made submissions to Health Minister Annette King, saying its alcoholic content will be anathema to Muslims and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
This has been denied by Hawke's Bay representatives of both groups.
Asthma New Zealand executive director Gerry Hanna said the AA would find it "repugnant" that its membership would be exposed to alcohol through using the inhaler.
The group was also worried about the effect that exposure to alcohol would have on infants and young children, Mr Hanna said.
The Muslim community would also be opposed to alcohol, he said.
Hawke's Bay Muslim Association spokesman Ghazanfar Ahmed, said Asthma New Zealand had "got it wrong" with regards to Islamic teaching.
The inhaler could safely be used by Muslims, even if it contained ethanol, as it was for medicinal purposes, Mr Ahmed said.
If a substance or medicine that contained alcohol was used to protect life then there was "no problem".
Alcohol was forbidden to be used by Muslims for pleasure or for them to get drunk, he said.
Trish, an AA Hawke's Bay worker, who did not want her surname used, said it would be "very unlikely" that a recovering alcoholic would start drinking again because of small amounts of alcohol in an inhaler.
Many other medicines, such as cough mixture, contained alcohol and were used safely by alcoholics who no longer drank.
"It sounds like a load of rubbish to me, but that is my personal opinion," she said.
A former Hastings Ventolin user, Jennifer Winter, said the "new" inhaler was, in her experience, "just as effective".
She had used Salamol for two months and although it tasted worse than her previous inhaler she would "just have to get used to it", Ms Winter said.
Mr Hanna said the primary issue was "lack of choice" for people with asthma. He had been advised by Ventolin manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline Ltd that its drug would be withdrawn from the NZ market when the contract for Salamol took effect.
If the country was dependant on one drug then people could die if there were shortages, he said.
Rob Allman, from the ministry's medicine regulator Medsafe, said there were four other approved inhalers available. Salamol had been approved in 18 countries, including the United Arab Emirates.
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