Fears for pharmacy as fires rage

Concerns are growing for a rural pharmacy, as bushfires have sparked a blaze in the main street of the southern NSW town of Cobargo. 

Residents of the town have been evacuated, and images published by the ABC show the structure of a local butcher shop burning, just six doors away from the Cobargo Pharmacy. 

A Pharmacy Guild of Australia spokesperson told Pharmacy Daily it could not confirm whether the fire had reached the pharmacy, but stated a pharmacist from the nearby Bega Hospital had contacted the Guild reporting much of the town's main street had been engulfed in flames. 

In Victoria, the Guild and Sigma Healthcare have airlifted supplies of salbutamol to the town of Mallacoota in eastern Gippsland, to alleviate a shortage caused by a surge in demand for the medication as fires rage in the region. 

The Guardian has reported that the town is currently under ember attack, with residents evacuated to the beach. 

A Guild spokesperson said there were also concerns about supplies of the asthma medicine in the Victorian town of Orbost as a result of the bushfires. 

Pharmacists in need of support can contact the Pharmacists’ Support Service on 1300 244 910 or visit supportforpharmacists.com.au.

See the next edition of Pharmacy Daily on 02 Jan for more.

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