Study: Cheaper prescriptions needed

Due to the cost, Maori and Pacific Island people are less likely than other groups to uptake medical prescriptions, which can result in even worse health problems, a study has found.

The study by University of Otago, Wellington, also found people in poor health, with high psychological stress or on a low to middle income - regardless of ethnicity - deferred buying medication.

Deprivation, poverty, family structure and multiple health problems all played a part in failure to take up prescriptions.

Lead researcher Santosh Jatrana said many Maori and Pacific Islanders had unmet health needs and not taking the necessary medication could make their conditions worse.

"The result is people who put off buying prescription drugs because of cost are more likely to be admitted to hospital with serious acute conditions as they haven't purchased medication or gone to their GP," she said.

The group with the lowest rate of prescription uptake were those in the middle income group.

"This may be because those on middle incomes are not eligible for the subsidies available through community service cards, and therefore the personal cost of going to a GP is higher than for low income groups," Dr Jatrana said.

"However, the study is unable to say which aspects of prescription costs, or other factors, are causing the differences found between ethnic groups."

The basic subsidised prescription cost is usually $3 per item and people are eligible for free prescriptions after the first 20 items.

Dr Jatrana said the cost of those first 20 prescriptions may be beyond some people - particularly low income families with high health needs.

"Other factors restricting uptake of prescriptions relate to whether Maori and Pacific people use medications more and are therefore more likely to defer purchase because of the cumulative cost if some medications are unsubsidised or only partially subsidised," she said.

"The study points to one main conclusion: It is important to reduce the cost barriers to drug access to improve preventive population health and reduce ethnic health inequalities in New Zealand."

The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and based on the Statistics New Zealand Survey of Family Income and Employment.

- NZPA