Men the focus for Ask Your Pharmacist week 2012

Ask Your Pharmacist (AYP) public awareness week will run this year from 5-12 November 2012.

The MHF has long backed pharmacies as an easy-to-access source of health information and help for men and this year, according to event organisers the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the focus will be on encouraging men to take a more active interest in their medicines, and drawing attention to the pharmacy based services available to them.

Activities during the week will include:

Broadcast, print and web coverage about community pharmacy services
Public exhibitions and community talks across the UK
Health promotions in pharmacies nationwide

Stephen Fishwick, Head of External Relations at the NPA, said: 'We want men to more actively engage with local pharmacies about medicines use and wellbeing. We encourage NPA members, local pharmacy representatives and NHS bodies across the UK to get involved. AYP Week is a great platform for a concerted public awareness drive.

'As usual with Ask Your Pharmacist Week, we will highlight that community pharmacists are uniquely accessible healthcare professionals. This year we are also determined to build understanding of the skills of the whole pharmacy team, which can sometimes be underestimated by customers and patients.”

Increased awareness

Evaluation of AYP Week 2011 showed a marked rise in awareness. According to the NPA, the percentage of people recognising that ‘a local pharmacy is more than just a place to pick up medicines’ rose 25% to 73%.