MedsAware 2024
MedsAware 'Ask because you care' empowers older Australians, Australian living with a disability and their care teams to ask health professionals ‘Could any of these medicines be doing more harm than good?’
MedsAware: Deprescribing Action Week
MedsAware Deprescribing Action Week raises awareness around polypharmacy and deprescribing. In 2025, MedsAware turns its attention towards sustainability highlighting the benefits of deprescribing that can be felt all around us – for patient and planet.
Empowering safe and sustainable use of medicines
Medicines can have important benefits in curing and preventing diseases and improving symptoms. However, the potential benefits and harms of medicines can change over time as a person ages, acquires new medical conditions, takes new medicines and changes their care goals. Therefore, medicines should be regularly reviewed to make sure that they are still of benefit, and not causing any harms.
Medicines can also impact the world around us.
Globally health systems account for 4.4% of all greenhouse gas emissions and sadly for us in Australia this number sits even higher at 7%. Hospitals and medicines alone account for two thirds of the carbon footprint associated with health care in Australia.[1]
Reference: Kouladjian O’Donnell L, 2024
Building ‘planetary consciousness’ in healthcare practice, policy, research, and education is critical; we cannot ignore the fact that climate change is the biggest health threat of this century. Reducing the impact of medicines on the natural environment is a fundamental principle of Australia’s National Medicines Policy.
[1] ‘The carbon footprint of Australian health care’, Malik, Arunima et al. The Lancet Planetary Health, Volume 2, Issue 1, e27 - e35
How a conversation around your medicines can make you - and the planet - healthier
‘Deprescribing’ describes the process of stopping medicines that are no longer required, or for which the risk of harm outweighs the benefits in the individual.*
Deprescribing also affords us the opportunity to not only improve medicines safety and patient care directly, but to contribute to a more sustainable and healthier planet.
Australians should be empowered to think safely and sustainably about their medicines.
By taking small steps, beginning with a simple conversation with your doctor or pharmacist, we can all help reduce the environmental impact of medicines.
*Medicines should never be stopped without talking to a doctor or pharmacist.
- MedsAware Deprescribing Action Week is about driving conversations around discontinuing medicines that are no longer required, or for which the risk of harm outweighs the benefits.
- MedsAware seeks to raise awareness around ‘polypharmacy’ and ‘deprescribing’, empowering Australians and their care teams to manage every medicines regimen ensuring it is current, effective and safe.
- #MedsAware supports and raises awareness of Australia’s 10th National Health Priority Area, Quality Use of Medicines and Medicines Safety.
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Some questions to ask about your medicinesWhat medications do I need to keep taking, and why? Have any medications been added, stopped or changed, and why? How will I know if my medication is working and what side effects do I watch for? How will this medicine help me? How do I take this medicine and for how long? What are the risks of taking this medicine? What else can I do? I don’t like taking this medicine. I’m worried it’s giving me side effects, or I don’t think it is working. Could you please review it? I’m not sure why I take this medicine. Could we talk about this? I would like you to please review if I still need this medicine. Could I possibly stop taking this medicine? |
Sources:
https://www.choosingwisely.org.au/assets/NPSMW2464_GMBH_5-QuestionsAboutYourMedicines.pdf
https://www.ismp-canada.org/download/MedRec/5questions/MedSafetyPoster-CaDeN-EN.pdf
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bcpt.13938
What is deprescribing?
- Deprescribing describes the process of stopping medicines that are no longer required, or for which the risk of harm outweighs the benefits.
- Think of deprescribing as spring cleaning for your medicine cabinet. Just like how you tidy up your house and get rid of objects that are causing clutter without being useful, deprescribing tidies up your medication list to keep only the ones that are truly required.
- Deprescribing is safe when planned and supervised by a healthcare professional.
- Deprescribing minimises the risk of withdrawal effects through careful monitoring and gradual tapering of medicines.
- Deprescribing empowers the care team and the patient through safer, shared decision-making.
Our supporters
Australian Deprescribing Network (ADeN)
The Australian Deprescribing Network (ADeN) involves clinicians, academic researchers, policy makers, students and consumers working together to develop the evidence-base, clinical guidance and knowledge translation to facilitate deprescribing of medicines that are no longer providing benefit or are causing harm. ADeN aims to promote research, awareness, practice and policy for the safe and appropriate use of medicines for all Australians.
ADeN are a joint founding partner of MedsAware: Deprescribing Action Week.
Visit their website to:
- Learn more about deprescribing
- Find resources to support deprescribing in practice including guidelines, communication tools and resources for the public
- Learn about their upcoming events
- Sign up to their email list to hear about upcoming opportunities, news, events and more!
Follow ADeN on X: @DeprescribeAU
In this Section
MedsAware 2023
In our inaugural year, MedsAware raises awareness around polypharmacy and deprescribing encouraging Australians to check their medicines are current, effective and safe.