Pfizer is to extend its medicines optimisation awareness campaign in the UK, originally launched in 2012.
The campaign will reinforce its original messages, which encourage the public to see the value of community pharmacy and to take advantage of pharmacy services and expertise in order to make best use of their medicines.
This year’s activity will follow a more targeted approach, concentrating on five specific geographical regions in order to measure public response to the campaign, said Pfizer.
A revamped national poster and three new regional posters have been produced for the North West, North East, and South East England. For the first time posters for North and South Wales, in both Welsh and English language versions are available.
The medicines optimisation campaign is supported by The National Pharmacy Association, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), Pharmacy Voice and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
The campaign features pharmacy posters and a new patient webpage hosted by the NPA’s Ask Your Pharmacist website: www.npa.co.uk/AYP/MO. This provides the public with easy access to a range of resources about medicines use and pharmacy services.
In a consumer campaign launch on November 25, Pfizer will also publish the results of a new patient survey into how the public take their medicines.
The survey – of 1,500 members of the public – found that almost three quarters (74 per cent) of respondents said they would be more likely to take their medicines as prescribed if they understood more about them, yet many were unaware of the advice available through high street pharmacies.
Rob Horne, professor of behavioural medicine, University College London (UCL) School of Pharmacy, said: “The results of the survey support published data, confirming that patients do experience difficulties in following treatment recommendations.”
“This highlights the need for tailored information that addresses patients’ individual perceptual and practical barriers to medicines adherence and with a pharmacy on every high street, pharmacy teams are well placed to contribute to this,” said Horne, whose team helped develop the survey.