Community pharmacists and pharmacy teams are trusted public health resources that see people in various states of health. They can play a central role in preventing ill health by providing essential services like dispensing medicines, offering health advice, and disposing of unused drugs. Public health services offered by pharmacies also include smoking cessation support, emergency contraception, minor ailment treatment, chronic disease management, and health promotion activities. Effective community pharmacy involvement in public health requires services to be commissioned and associated with the supply of relevant medicines and treatments.

1. COMMUNITY PHARMACY
&
PUBLIC HEALTH
By
Dr Rafia Fatimah
Lecturer
Hajvery University Lahore

2. Community Pharmacists …
 and pharmacy teams as a valuable
and trusted public health resource
 trusted professionals in supporting
individual, family and community
health
 see people in every state of health
and are ideally placed to play a central
role in the prevention of ill health.

4. Public health services from
community pharmacies include:
1. NATIONAL
Essential services
 Including dispensing medicines and
appliances
 Providing prescription-linked healthy
lifestyle advice
 Disposal of unwanted medicines
 Support for self-care

5. Advanced services
 including targeted Medicine Use
Reviews
(MURs),
 Appliance Use Reviews (AURs)
 New Medicine Service (NMS) to
 support patients with long-term
conditions who are prescribed new
medicines
 Provision of medical equipment

6. 2. LOCAL
Enhanced services
 to care homes,
 disease-specific medicines
management
 minor ailment services

7. Opportunities identified for community
pharmacy in the Public Health service include
 NHS checks
 Rational use of drugs
 Poisoning prevention
 Epidemiological control
 Smoking cessation services
 Emergency Hormonal Contraception
 Prevention and management of drug abuse,
misuse and addiction
 Healthy eating and lifestyle advice
 Chronic Disease Management
 Infection control and prevention
 Minor Ailments Schemes

9. NHS Checks include
 Sexual health services including
chlamydia
screening and treatment, HIV testing,
 Emergency hormonal contraception
through ‘patient group directions

10. Smoking Cessation
 Community pharmacy based stop
smoking services run by trained
pharmacy staff were effective and
cost-effective in helping smokers quit.
 Supply of medicines relevant to
stopping smoking

12. Provision of emergency
hormonal contraceptives
 There is good evidence that
community pharmacy
EHC(emergency hormonal
replacement) services provided timely
access to therapy and are highly rated
by women who use them.
 EHC services have emerged as a
major public health strategy in the
prevention of unintended pregnancies.

13. This…???
Or this one????

14. Prevention and management of drug
abuse, misuse and addiction
 Alcohol use awakeness program
 Alcohol advice and harm reduction
services
 Needle and syringe exchange for people
with drug addictions
 Supervised administration of methadone
and other substitutes

15. Chronic disease management
and Prevention_
 community pharmacy interventions
can improve
 respiratory function and use of
medicines in patients with asthma.
 promote cardiovascular health in
terms of cholesterol reduction and
high blood pressure.
 to improve the management of other
chronic diseases such as diabetes.

16.  For example, someone taking
medicines for high blood pressure
might also be a smoker.
 Similarly, people with diabetes could
receive healthy eating and weight
management services at the
pharmacy.

17. Healthy eating and lifestyle advice
 needs to target patients with chronic
diseases as part of the national
strategy
 weight reduction programmes
 detect and manage obesity
 advice on diet and physical activity

19.  Infection control and prevention
vaccination
 Minor Ailments Schemes (MAS)

21. Environmental Hazards

22.  In commissioning public health (PH)
services from community pharmacies,
some of the services will be
associated with the supply of a
medicine.
 Some examples of medicines:
 medicines relevant to stopping
smoking
 screening and treatments for sexually
transmitted diseases
 medicines for weight management
 methadone for people addicted to
heroin.

23. Ideas for success
 “Alcohol or smoking scratch cards or
performa”
 “Know your skin”
 Community Walk groups
 Cholesterol checking