treatment

Medicines play an important part in the maintenance and treatment of mental illness and the MHCA has a keen interest in the governance structures which oversee the conduct of the Australian innovative pharmaceutical sector. In this submission the MHCA promotes consumer and carer engagement as effective strategies to include in the Medicines Australia Code of Conduct.

A long awaited evaluation into the mental health Better Access initiative shows that while the Commonwealth’s billion dollar outlay through the Medical Benefits Schedule has increased the rates of treatment for some, too many Australians in need of services are still missing out.

Up to 80 per cent of inmates in Australian prisons have a mental illness and magistrates in regional areas are sending mentally ill people to jail as there is often no treatment or mental health facilities available.