Green Cross Pharmacy Announces Collaboration with PAN (PrEPaccessNOW) To Provide Free PrEP.
Swaziland business owner Noel Offer of Green Cross Pharmacy and Australian PrEP activist group, PAN (PrEPaccessNOW), have renewed their collaboration to bring free PrEP to those on low incomes who otherwise couldn’t afford it.
Many states and territories are still without access to the clinical trials which are operational, or planned, across Australia. With no wider subsidised and affordable access to PrEP through the PBS, many people across Australia who are at risk for HIV have so far been failed by the Federal government which plans to end
new HIV transmissions by 2020.
Through this collaborative partnership, PAN and Green Cross Pharmacy are continuing to enable people all across Australia access not only low cost PrEP, but also free PrEP to those experiencing financial hardship, low income, or those with concession or health care cards.
Noel Offer said, “I’ve always run the PrEP part of my business at very near to cost price so that we can get as many people protected as possible. I worked with Australian PrEP activist Rodney Ellis recently to get a 30% drop in global online prices but the second part of that was making sure nobody got left behind. That’s why the free PrEP coupon scheme is such a great part of what we have built here. I donate my profit margin on each sale to generate coupons.”
For every ten PrEP sales through Green Cross Pharmacy, a free PrEP coupon is generated - enabling someone to receive a free order of PrEP. These coupons are held until they are allocated by PAN to those who apply for assistance via the PAN website www.pan.org.au. The applicant provides their script, ID, and their concession/health care card information (if any). Once approved, the applicant receives a discount code to use on checkout on www.greencrosspharmacy.online .
Rodney Ellis, PrEP activist added, “I’ve worked closely with Noel and Green Cross Pharmacy to make the coupon scheme transparent, fair and targeted to those who need it most. Once the system is ramped up to the projected sales it should support about 900 people getting free PrEP each 3 months. I met with PAN, and as a former founding member, I was really proud to see how dedicated, hard working and focused they still were to the core mission of making PrEP easily accessible to all Australians. I recommended to Noel that they would make a very appropriate, credible, experienced and ethical activist community group to process applications and select people for free coupons for GCP in the Australian region. GCP had worked with PAN previously right at the beginning in 2015.”
Those people on low income or who are struggling to afford the cost of having to personally import PrEP can apply on the PAN web page:
http://pan.org.au/assistance-scheme/
The coupons cover the full cost of 3 bottles, or three months worth of generic PrEP and standard courier delivery.
