AstraZeneca today launched the Making the Most of your Medicines programme, a pioneering adherence initiative funded by AstraZeneca, which aims to assist community pharmacists help their patients make the most from certain AstraZeneca medicines.

Patient adherence to a prescribed medicine regimen is a major problem in the UK, with one in six people failing to take their medicines correctly or fully adhering to the recommendations made by their prescriber.1 Inadequate patient adherence can result in a significant deterioration of patient outcomes, particularly among those with serious conditions - for instance, it is estimated that poor adherence to inhaled corticosteroid therapy, which may occur in 10-40% of patients, may contribute to between 18-48% of asthma deaths.2

Dr Wendy Clyne, Assistant Director; Medicines Partnership Programme, NPC Plus, comments "Non-adherence to prescribed medicines can have a negative impact not only on patient outcomes but also contributes to medicines waste. The Public Accounts Committee estimated that £100 million is lost on wasted and unused drugs each year. There is currently an unmet need for patient adherence support which the Making the Most of your Medicines programme helps to address".

Community pharmacists participating in the Making the Most of your Medicines programme will be invited to training sessions to strengthen their skills in patient consultation and supported with resources adapted in consultation with community pharmacists. The programme encourages community pharmacists to conduct short structured interviews with their patients to help resolve patient concerns about their condition or treatment, which may result in greater patient adherence and positive patient outcomes.

AstraZeneca will be offering every community pharmacist in the country the opportunity to join the Making the Most of your Medicines programme. Community pharmacists will receive a fee for service in return for their time and each achieved patient intervention.

Dr Alan McDougall, Acting Medical and Regulatory Affairs Director, said "AstraZeneca is committed to working with community pharmacists to support their unique position in advancing patient care. We recognise the enormous challenges that community pharmacists face and are keen to partner more closely to help meet these challenges and create a long-term sustainable approach to delivering patient support. Maximising adherence is a major challenge but there is an opportunity for the Making the Most of your Medicines programme to make a real difference by supporting community pharmacists to improve outcomes for patients, often with serious conditions".

The Making the Most of your Medicines programme includes the following AstraZeneca medicines: Symbicort®, CRESTOR®, Nexium® and Arimidex®. Community pharmacists who are interested in registering for the programme should contact: mmm.programme@AstraZeneca.com.

For more information visit: www.simplyAZ.co.uk