Ask About Medicines Week focuses on young
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A pupil from London Colney JMI School worls on one of the activities from the "Ask about medicines as we grow up" pack |
Children and young people can be more easily taught about the safe and
effective use of medicines following the development of a pack for
health professionals and teachers.
The pack — produced with the support of the National Pharmacy Association
and the Department of Health as part of this year’s Ask
About Medicines Week campaign — contains lesson plans and materials tailored for
children and young people aged 5–14 years of age and complements
the national curriculum (where, at present, medicines are covered briefly).
Health professionals working in the community, such as community pharmacists,
are being encouraged to visit schools and give lessons using this resource.
The pack is one of the activities launched for Ask About Medicines Week
which ran from 5–9 November with this year’s focus being “asking
about medicines as we grow up”. It is hoped these activities will
encourage children and young people to use their medicines safely.
As much as 42 per cent of children and young people — particularly
teenagers — do not follow medical advice when using medicines,
leading to dangerous practices, such as diabetic patients neglecting
their insulin injections for fear of putting on weight, or asthmatic
patients leaving inhalers at home for fear of embarrassment in front
of friends.
The launch of the lesson pack took place at London Colney JMI School
near St Alban’s, where Steven Brill, a local community pharmacist,
guided a group of five to seven year olds through some of the activities
from the pack.
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