Message from the Registrar
National Pharmacy Week 2016:
Use Medicine Safely
National Pharmacy Week 2016 will be held between 5 and 11 September and Council is urging the profession to pull out all the stops to highlight the contribution pharmacists make to the health and wellbeing of the people of South Africa.
This year’s theme is Use Medicine Safely and is aimed at encouraging patients to ask their pharmacists pertinent questions on the safe use of their medication to obtain optimal medicinal benefit.
The poster to promote the week symbolises a traffic light and uses red, orange and green to convey the three steps a patient should take to ensure the safe use of their medication.
The red light, “STOP, ask yourself”, urges the patient to ensure they understand why they are taking the medicine. The orange light, “ASK your pharmacist”, recommends the patient ask the pharmacist for information on the safe use and storage of the medicine. The green light, “GO, and get well”, indicates the pharmacist has given the patient advice on the safe use, storage and disposal of the medicine.
Posters and pamphlets, developed jointly by the National Department of Health (NDoH), the South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC), the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa (PSSA) and the Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS), are available in English and eight of the official languages.
They will be printed and distributed to pharmacists and pharmacies nationwide in August 2016.
Artwork will also be available for download from: www.health.gov.za, www.sapc.za.org, and www.pssa.org.za.
Council and its partners are urging the profession to make this year’s campaign the biggest and most impactful yet. Some activities to consider are exhibition stands, presentations, visits (schools, hospitals, gyms, old age homes), competitions, press releases, information slips, emails, Facebook, Twitter etc.
Pharmaciae would like to request the participating pharmacies and facilities to send them a short report and some images showing how they celebrated the week.
Please remember to send your Pharmacy Week stories and photos to Elmari.Venter@sapc.za.org.This message will be carried, printed and distributed nationwide.
Please note that these posters are tagged so that patients can download the information on their smart phones. Pharmacy Week is a collaborative activity between the National Department of Health,South African Pharmacy Council, and Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa. Together, the pharmacist and his/her patient can achieve the optimum pharmaceutical care results!
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