National Medicines Symposium 2024: Ageing Well- Safe Medicines, Better Lives

As Australia’s population ages, the need for managing the appropriate use of medicines becomes increasingly critical. This Symposium will bring together experts and practitioners to discuss innovative strategies for enhancing medication safety, reducing polypharmacy, and improving the quality of life for all Australians.

Our speakers, include Professor Libby Roughead, Professor Jennifer Martin, Professor Sarah Hilmer and Dr Lisa Kouladjian O’Donnell, who will share their insights on key topics such as person-centred deprescribing, deprescribing high-risk medications and leveraging digital health tools. You will gain valuable knowledge about how to tackle the complexities of medication management in an ageing population and drive sustainable healthcare practices.

While beneficial, medicines also pose risks. The Symposium will delve into the safe and appropriate use of medicines in an ageing population. Experts will explore how we find a balance between managing disease and avoiding medicine-related problems.

With an ageing population, more Australians are living with multiple chronic diseases and taking multiple medicines – known as polypharmacy. Monitoring polypharmacy and responding to inappropriate polypharmacy is one of the actions for Australia’s response to Medication without harm – WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge. Australia’s response also focuses on improving medication safety at transitions of care, with a focus on a shared medicines list.