Better use of medicines could save US$500 billion (£310bn) a year of global health spend, a report by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics has estimated.

The report, presented to international health ministers in Amsterdam last week, called for pharmacists to play a greater role in medicines management to help cut costs. Improving medicines adherence alone could save US$269bn (£167bn) worldwide, it claimed.

Improving medicines adherence alone could save US$269 billion worldwide, the report found

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And the report recommended that further work by pharmacists, medical audits for elderly patients, mandatory reporting of antibiotic use, a "no blame culture" in error reporting and targeted disease management programmes could improve medicines use. "Harnessing available information to set priorities, monitor progress and support behaviour change among healthcare stakeholders, payers, clinicians, nurses, pharmacists and patients, is a vital first step," said IMS Institute executive director Murray Aitkin.

The findings were backed by PSNC, which stressed pharmacy's "vital role" in medicines management must be built upon in the reformed NHS. PSNC head of NHS services Alastair Buxton said it was "already working" to deliver this.

"This report confirms what we already know – that medicines adherence problems are costing the NHS huge amounts of money and that community pharmacists must be at the heart of a comprehensive and proactive solution," said Mr Buxton.

Mark Burdon, a community pharmacy contractor in County Durham and chair of the PSNC Resource Development and Finance subcommittee, echoed the comments. "Through our efficient procurement, the NHS saves millions of pounds every year on generic medicines and this is before we factor in the added value from pharmacists' input in optimising their patients' use of medicines," he argued.

The World Health Organization estimates more than half of medicines are not taken correctly because they are prescribed, dispensed or sold inappropriately.