Pharmaceutical Relief Activities at Western Japan Torrential Rain Disaster

Abstract

Introduction:The torrential rain triggering massive flooding and hundreds of landslides was the worst weather disaster in Western Japan. A temporary pharmacy was established in the Kurashiki health center, which provided medicine to victims.Aim:To evaluate the supply status of prescription under the health insurance system during a disaster.Methods:When the enormous disaster occurred, victims get a prescription in the hospital or community pharmacy under the Disaster Relief Act or Health Insurance Act. Under the Disaster Relief Act, prescriptions that are given at a first aid station are able to be filled at the mobile pharmacies at no cost to the patient from the local government. Prescriptions that are issued by a medical institution, and are in accordance with the Health Insurance Act or National Health Insurance Act, can be dispensed at hospitals or community pharmacies. Patients may be exempt from the co-payment by being covered by their health insurance. Here, we investigated the supply status of prescription to affected people.Results:The good points of the supply status were as following: 1) dispensing out of disaster area was a good system to relieve a pharmacist2. ) J-SPEED was also a good reporting system to provide appropriative medicine inventory management, and 3) sending prescription using a mobile phone was very useful for pharmaceutical activities. On the other hand, the points for improvement were as following: 1) more time to learn the medical insurance system during the disaster was needed, and 2) the mobile pharmacy is better to make the rounds of shelters including health care consultation.Discussion:In case of a disaster, two different medicine supply systems cause confusion to medical relief teams. It is considered that collaboration relief activities with relief teams that included a pharmacist was very important.