National Eczema Awareness Week - PSA Supports New Eczema Resource For Pharmacists

Main Category: Eczema / Psoriasis
Also Included In: Pharmacy / Pharmacist;  Dermatology
Article Date: 10 Sep 2009 - 14:00 PDT

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PSA is supporting the release of a new Eczema management resource - Eczema Management Guide For The Pharmacist during National Eczema Awareness Week which runs until 13 September.

Eczema is a skin condition which affects about one in three Australians at some time in their lives. It usually starts when a child is a baby and is sometimes gone by the time the child is about six.

However, the condition can also start later in life and some people have eczema at different times throughout their lives resulting in skin that n is very itchy with dry red patchy skin usually on the face, elbows or knees. These patches can become watery and sore looking and later the skin may look thick and leathery. When the sores are weeping it is easy for them to become infected.

As part of its support for National Eczema Awareness Week, the PSA is making the resource available to members via the PSA website at www.psa.org.au, allowing its members access to the latest information to bring them up to date on the current treatments and advice available. The Eczema Management Guide For the Pharmacist is a new resource, and a first of its kind for Australia, developed for the Eczema Association by pharmacist Tina Aspres and dermatologist Dr Phillip Artemi.

Grant Kardachi, the Acting President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, said the organisation urged people with eczema or other minor ailments to talk to their pharmacist. "This new resource is one that will assist pharmacists greatly in the care of their patients with eczema," he said.

"Pharmacists are very focussed on the quality use of medicines to ensure that consumers get the best possible treatment available to them."

Mr Kardachi also encouraged pharmacies to use the Eczema Self Care Fact Card at every opportunity, not only during Eczema Awareness Week but all the time.

"The Eczema Self Care Fact Card is a great 'starting point' for discussion about eczema and all pharmacies should be a member of the Self Care program as it is Australian pharmacy's most successful health promotion program that equips pharmacies to be the natural focal point for preventive health measures and health education for consumers.

"As the Government moves towards a much greater emphasis on preventive health, it is timely that National Eczema Awareness Week helps highlight the pivotal role pharmacists play in this area," Mr Kardachi said.

Source
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia