The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7300 p647
22 May 2004

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Opportunity knocks in animal health

Welcoming participants to the conference, Andrew Cairns (chairman of the Veterinary Pharmacists Group) said that the profession was facing a great challenge in veterinary medicine. After expected changes in legislation, pharmacy would be asked to become more active in the distribution of veterinary products.

Although vets are now being required to offer prescriptions to their clients this, in itself, is unlikely to result in significant numbers of prescriptions being presented to pharmacies. Their unchanged right of supply meant that vets are likely to retain most of this business in the short and medium term.

A much larger number of pharmacists could be engaged in supply if there was a reclassification of prescription-only medicines (POMs) to pharmacy (P) sale for both the companion animal and livestock sectors.

A place (somewhere) for pharmacy

Commenting on the conference title, “Opportunity knocks”, John Fitzgerald, director of policy at the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, confirmed that the message from ministers was that pharmacy certainly had a place in the distribution of veterinary medicines. Exactly where that place was still had to be decided in the light of the review of veterinary legislation and implementation of the Marsh report and the competition report.

Classification changes had in the past been initiated by manufacturers but in future the VMD would be able to assemble the necessary evidence in support of a category switch. The manufacturer would still have the final say as to whether the action was appropriate.

Rory Culliton (Pharmachem, Eire) said that vets could pressurise manufacturers to veto switching. He suggested that the VMD should have power to enforce the change.

Group member John Lane said it would help if pharmacists could request changes too.

Mr Fitzgerald promised to “throw this idea into the melting pot”.

Mr Lane said that it would seem logical to improve pet owners’ access to certain commonly used POM medicines by allowing supply under a pharmacist’s supervision.

Considering the prescribing options

Sue Kilby, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s head of practice, said that it was important to consider possible pharmacist prescribing models in veterinary practice, even though such a role was still some distance away. The options could be based on emerging human practice, even though veterinary practice, being privately funded, had no overarching body directing health care delivery as with the NHS. It was generally agreed that the way forward was through reclassification of some key POMs to allow over-the-counter supply. Adequate training was a crucial element of future practice, said Ms Kilby.

Importance of farm health plans

Marion Rawlins, from the disease prevention team at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, spoke of the importance of farm health plans — a concept that had emerged following the inquiry into the foot and mouth disease outbreak.

The plan represented a proactive approach to disease prevention and control, and a tool in which current livestock disease status and farm health practices were documented and linked to risk assessment and planning. It required identification of existing disease (including early recognition), identification of risk factors for introduction and spread of diseases and infections and assessment of current (and if necessary, introduction of) measures for disease and risk management.

Dr Rawlins emphasised that everyone within the farming industry had a contribution to make in supporting positive livestock health. It was necessary to generate a partnership foundation within the farming industry to support widespread use of farm health planning. DEFRA was consulting a wide range of stakeholders to ensure appropriate measures were put in place. A steering group would take forward the project and apply it to to all major livestock species. Pharmacy involvement would be welcomed.

Call for closer co-operation with vets

A call for closer co-operation with veterinary colleagues was made by VPG committee member Steven Kayne. He said that pharmacists and vets were both part of a health care delivery team. They were subject to similar drivers for change in current practices from a variety of sources including clients, the government and the professions themselves.

Dr Kayne said that pharmacists saw involvement in animal welfare as complementing their current activities. There was also an important public health element in minimising the risk of zoonoses by promoting best practices in keeping animals.

Industry currently not keen on pharmacy

Giving an industry view of pharmacy involvement in veterinary medicine, Rob Morris (Intervet) pointed out that the pharmacy market was not attractive for manufacturers because the number of pharmacies involved in supplying veterinary medicines was currently small. However, despite the relatively few outlets it was estimated that up to 20 per cent of farm sales were through pharmacy outlets. And as farm health plans became standard practice there would be opportunities for the pharmacy livestock market to expand, particularly in the vaccines sector.

Mr Morris did not expect large scale reclassification of medicines for companion animals in the short term. But there were already opportunities now that veterinary wholesalers were supplying pharmacies at the same prices they charged to veterinary surgeons.