Pharmacists provide crucial front line health care
MEDIA RELEASE
17 June 2009
Pharmacists provide
crucial front line health care
Pharmacists are on the front line of the
pandemic, responding to unprecedented volumes of patient
queries and anxieties. The Community Pharmacy Leaders’
Forum (CPLF) is urging health officials to recognise the
crucial role pharmacists play in front line health care and
include them in front line planning.
The members of the CPLF point to the current Influenza A (H1N1) crisis which has highlighted the importance of pharmacy during a pandemic and are concerned their role is not sufficiently recognised within public health strategies.
“Community pharmacies are the first place people go for health advice. Pharmacists need more support and need to be better integrated into decisions and actions being taken by public health officials. There is conflicting advice being given to pharmacists by public health units in the various regions,” says the CPLF.
The CPLF encourages all health care officials to provide community pharmacy with the same front line support as other health care providers.
ENDS
Notes:
The Community Pharmacy
Leaders Forum brings together representatives from the
Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand, Pharmaceutical Society of New
Zealand, Life Pharmacy, Radius Pharmacy and
Pharmacybrands.