NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF
CPD TRAINING ON ACID REFLUX LAUNCHED FOR PHARMACISTS
As the PAGB launches their new self-care manifesto to encourage people to seek pharmacist advice on minor ailments, a new CPD programme - Managing Acid Reflux: The Pharmacist’s Role – has launched for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, assistants and trainees.
The new Protect e-learning programme, which is sponsored by Pfizer and accredited by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, focusses on the modern management of acid reflux, supporting pharmacists’ dialogue with their customers and helping them advise on appropriate treatment of the condition.
The programme has been developed to help advance standards of care in heartburn and acid reflux management through expert-led, clinically relevant education. In addition to equipping pharmacists with the practical knowledge to advise people, the programme also provides downloadable materials that can be shared with the wider pharmacy team, including an algorithm to advise on treatment options and when to refer people to a GP. In addition, with an increase in the availability of OTC medicines, the e-learning ensures their knowledge is up-to-date and they are able to advise on the most appropriate treatment.” The free programme provides 0.5 CPD credits and takes around 30 minutes to complete, covering the following three chapters, including interactive case studies.
- Chapter 1: Unmet needs of the frequent acid reflux sufferer - Chapter 2: How can the pharmacy team optimise OTC management of acid reflux? - Chapter 3: What options are available OTC?
The training can be completed online at
www.protect-cpd.com
46 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST Antibiotics arsenal losing effectiveness
Our arsenal of antibiotics is losing its effectiveness against drug-resistant bacteria, the so called ‘superbugs’. Yet the new medicines we need are not being developed fast enough.
In a report published this month, Jim O’Neill’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance sets out proposals to overhaul the global antibiotics pipeline over the next ten years. This is one in a series of reports by the O’Neill Review, before their final recommendations by the summer of 2016.
The report identifies the reasons why commercial investment is lagging in this area and recommends three types of targeted interventions:
1. Commit lump-sum payments to successful drug developers to support a viable market for the highest priority antibiotics. A global body would make payments that incentivise the development of the most needed antibiotics to combat rising drug resistance. This approach ‘de-links’ the profitability of a drug from its volume of sales: it reduces the commercial imperative for a drug company to sell new antibiotics in large quantities, which can contribute to the development and spread of drug resistance.
2. Jump start a new innovation cycle in antibiotics by getting more money into early stage research. A global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) Innovation Fund of around 2 billion USD over 5 years would help boost
funding for blue-sky research into drugs and diagnostics, and get more good ideas off the ground.
3. Catalyse discoveries into new drugs by supporting the antibiotics development process throughout the R&D pipeline. Innovative partnerships at early development stages between academia and industry, public bodies facilitating clinical trials, or lowering financial and regulatory barriers to successful drug development could all play a role to catalyse antibiotic discovery.
Chair of the ABPI Antibiotics Network Mark Lloyd Davies commented that collaborative working is essential to encourage development.
“Antibiotics play a crucial role in modern medicine, providing the platform for a wide range of medical interventions that would be impossible to perform due to the risk of infection. However, antibiotics continue to be undervalued and their price does not always reflect their value to society,” he said.
“As the O’Neill review team has argued, pharmaceutical companies and governments across the globe need to work together as a matter of urgency to create aligned incentives to encourage the development, manufacture and provision of much needed new antibiotics, along with changing behaviour around the use of existing medicines.
“This interim Report suggests that
two funds are needed - a global AMR Innovation Fund ($2–5 billion) to de-risk R&D, to be paid for by the pharmaceutical industry, and a global reimbursement fund to pay for innovative antibiotics ($16–37 billion). We welcome the report’s focus on how to de-risk R&D and de-link reward for innovators from the use of the antibiotic in the market. It is important that the next phase of work by the O’Neill Review addresses how these funds will work in more detail and looks at potential gaps that these funds would leave unaddressed.
“There are also issues to resolve about how the global reimbursement fund will work – who will pay for it? How will new antibiotics be judged to be of sufficient value to access the fund? Can it learn from the proven model of the Innovative Medicines Initiative where expertise, personnel and capital resource are just as important as funds?
“The ABPI Antibiotic Network views a new economic model for antibiotics as a crucial component of a sustainable landscape for antibiotic development, and supports an advanced market commitment model. This will reduce financial risk for healthcare services and innovators alike, while ensuring patients have access to new antibiotics.”
Pharmacy students put through their paces
Pictured are Robert Gordon University (RGU) Pharmacy students who have been working with pre-school children to learn about patient interaction in a new simulation exercise.
The third year students were paid a visit by four pre-school children, between the ages of two and four recently, to help them gain experience working with young people.
The children were given role-play instructions and the students had to assess fictional issues during each consultation such as sore coughs, head lice and rashes, and then supply an appropriate remedy or medication. Pictured are Pharmacy students Lauren Jamieson, Hannah Jebb and Kirsten Jack with ‘patients’ Phoebe, Ollie, Finlay and Caleb.
Pharmacy students Lauren Jamieson, Hannah Jebb and Kirsten Jack with ‘patients’ Phoebe, Ollie, Finlay and Caleb.
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