Medicines information service
healthdirect’s online medicines information service (Opens in new tab) aims to reduce confusion about and potential misuse of medicines by making information about medicines easy-to-understand, consumer-friendly and readily searchable.
Medicines is a highly searched category online, with many people accessing information from overseas health and medicines websites where the regulatory, legal and clinical conditions are different to Australia. The medicines information service provides access to safe, reliable, up-to-date, local information about medicines, supporting people's health literacy and ability to safely and confidently manage their own health.
Improving access to safe medicines information
The medicines information service has more than 8,000 pages of information about medicines registered for use in Australia — the most comprehensive Australian medicines catalogue available online.
People can search for medicines by brand name or active ingredient. The information is updated monthly and includes:
- a description of the medicine
- the conditions it is used to treat or prevent
- how to store it
- its form (tablet, capsule, ointment, cream or injection)
- how it is administered and if there have been any recalls
- a link to the Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) leaflet, which describes potential side effects and when and how to take the medicine
The service also provides information about specific categories of medicines, the differences between generic and brand name medicines and safety advice for taking medicines.
Adverse events and side effects of medicines can be reported via a link to the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Trusted sources of medicines information
The medicines information service uses data and images from a range of trusted data sources, in cluding the Therapeutic Goods Administration (Opens in new tab) (TGA), Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (Opens in new tab) (PBS), Australian Medicines Terminology (AMT) and Medicines Information Pty Ltd (Opens in new tab). Read more detailed information about these data sources (Opens in new tab).
Information about whether medicines are prohibited in professional sport is available via links to the Sport Integrity Australia (Opens in new tab) database.
Hosting the medicines information service on health websites
Health organisations can easily embed access to the healthdirect medicines information service in their websites, providing website visitors with a direct link to safe, appropriate, online medicines information.