Canberra, Sep 7 (IANS): The Australian government on Wednesday announced a plan to slash the price of medicines in response to the rising cost of living.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Health Minister Mark Butler tabled the plan in Parliament that will reduce the out-of-pocket costs for general prescription medications to A$30 from 2023, down from the maximum cost of general scripts of A$42.5, reports Xinhua news agency.
The government claims the measure will save people who require multiple regular medications hundreds of dollars every year, helping them cope with inflation.
According to figures cited by Butler on Wednesday, almost 1 million Australians every year go without filling a script that their doctor has said is important for their health, because they simply can't afford it.
"Patients continue to tell community pharmacies of the increasing pressures of having to choose between food on the table and medicine for their family," Trent Twomey, national president of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Butler said cutting the price by nearly one third will mean more people can afford to get the medications they need to stay healthy, without worrying so much about the price.
The measure was announced one day after Albanese warned colleagues to prepare for "difficult decisions" in his government's first federal budget, which will be handed down in October.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday announced a rate hike for the fifth consecutive month, lifting its cash rate target by 50 basis points to a record high of 2.35 per cent since 2015.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.8 per cent in the June quarter, with the annual inflation rate increasing to 6.1 percent.
"This will make a real difference to families who are doing it tough. We recognize the cost of living pressures which are there," Albanese said on Wednesday.
"And this is a practical difference, which will make a difference to cost of living."