People registered with the free medicine programme are now accessing the medicines from the 47 designated pharmacies.

Minister for Health and Medical Services Jone Usamate said the 47 designated pharmacies had 72 items on their list in the Government’s free medicine programme.

However, he said if people are accessing medicine from a Government pharmacy the medicines were already free.

“We are still encouraging people who qualify under the scheme to register their information with the ministry in order to receive free medication,” Mr Usamate said.

He said people eligible for the programme included individuals over 18 who earned less than $20,000 a year or those households whose joint income was less than $20,000.

“We have a Government taskforce including the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority, Ministry of Finance and a few others who are working with us.”

He said they would review the whole process of its medication supply to avoid the issue of shortage of medicines as faced in the past.

“What we intend to do this year is to look at the whole process of how we identify what the pharmaceutical needs are and how we get it back to the places where it’s needed.”

Meanwhile, the Government had allocated $8 million for the free medicine programme.

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