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healthdirect medicines information sources

The following sources are used to create healthdirect’s medicines pages. The data are refreshed once a month.

Australian Health Thesaurus

The Australian Health Thesaurus (AHT) is maintained by Healthdirect Australia. It consists of health and medical terminology. It is also the source of the pregnancy and age-related information that appears on some medicines pages.

Australian Medicines Terminology (AMT)

The Australian Medicines Terminology (AMT) identifies all medicines commonly used in Australia, including generic brands. It also provides standard names to accurately describe medications.

Medicines Information Pty Ltd

Medicines Information Pty Ltd is a provider of high quality, standards-based photographic images of pills displayed on healthdirect’s medicines pages.

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme provides details of the medicines subsidised by the Australian Government as well as information for consumers and health professionals.

Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is part of the Australian Government Department of Health. The TGA regulates the supply of prescription and non-prescription medicines and complementary medicines.

The TGA supplies most of the information about medicines on healthdirect’s pages. This includes important characteristics such as indications, appearance and storage, as well as information on medicines recalls and other important topics.

Watch this video for more information on the role of the TGA.

Last reviewed: June 2019

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