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Community Update 10Community Update 10

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Community Update was formerly known as Community e.news.

October 2007

Keep up-to-date with community Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) initiatives.

National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) and other organisations actively engage with the community to encourage the Quality Use of Medicines (QUM). QUM advocates selecting management options wisely, choosing suitable medicines if they are considered necessary, and using medicines safely and effectively. QUM is a central objective of Australia's National Medicines Policy.

In this edition:

News

Profile

Free information

News

Ethnic school students win medicine accolades

By Anita Maberly and Jackie Stephenson

Families get to know their medicines competition finalists and winners
Families get to know their medicines competition finalists and winners

Flora Varitimos, Hoang Nguyen Kim Ngan and Jane Poon won top honours at the Families get to know their medicines ethnic schools portfolio competition awards ceremony in Brisbane last week.

The students had combined learning their family language and culture with learning about medicines, while attending Queensland After Hours Ethnic Schools. The awards recognised the students' outstanding schoolwork portfolios.

Also honoured, were the winning schools, Tzu - Chi Academy Australia Brisbane, Lac Hong and Greek School of St George, along with the 57 finalists.

Students, parents, teachers and VIP guests attended the ceremony, celebrating the competition winners and finalists' achievements.

The Families get to know their medicines program has been run in partnership with the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA), the Queensland LOTE Centre and Community Languages Australia (CLA).

Read the full story and see a list of other winners. 

Generic medicines in the limelight

By Greg Ford

Meals on Wheels volunteers: Terrence Ibbot, Colin Edwards, Henry Grundstom and Tairo Suarez
Meals on Wheels volunteers: Terrence Ibbot, Colin Edwards, Henry Grundstom and Tairo Suarez

With one day's notice, the Senior Peer Education Centre NSW, (auspiced by Council Of The Ageing (COTA) SA) and NSW Meals On Wheels (MOW) rose to the occasion to play a pivotal role, alongside the National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS), in a Today Tonight story about generic medicines.

The story, "Generic drugs: a consumer investigation. How they rate on price, side-effects and safety compared to the big brands", aired on Channel 7's Today Tonight program on Thursday, 28 September.

The story opened with COTA senior peer educator Warren Doherty presenting a generic medicine free information session to Randwick MOW volunteers. This was followed by interviews with Judith Mackson, Deputy CEO of NPS, and John Gullotta, Associate Professor, GP, and Chair of the federal Australian Medical Association (AMA) Therapeutics Committee.

Thanks to the efforts of the Senior Peer Education Centre NSW, NSW MOW, and Randwick MOW Manager Carmen Burton and her ten volunteers the story went off without a hitch.

The Senior Peer Education Centre NSW and NPS are working together to bring free information sessions to NSW MOW volunteers, who are celebrating 50 years of volunteering during October and November.

NT school tops 'Harvey' writing competition

By Margaret Artist

Litchfield Christian School from Humpty Doo in the Northern Territory has taken out first prize in the National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) 'Harvey gets a cold' story writing competition.

The school was awarded $3000 worth of books for its library and the chance to publish its story.

The seven runners up won $1000 worth of books for their libraries.

Pan Macmillan Australia generously matched the original $5000 prize money put up by NPS.

NPS to boost community asthma education

National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) and University of Sydney researchers have won a grant to develop asthma education modules to assist health professionals become more proficient in training consumers in the use of asthma management devices.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project Grant is funding the education module development, which is titled 'Improving asthma device use: Innovative models for inter professional practice'.

Few asthma sufferers receive the correct training from health professionals in the use of, for example, inhalers. Many health professionals cannot demonstrate the correct use of these devices, or assume that other health professionals have provided the training.

The project will run from 2008-2010 and promote an interdisciplinary approach to asthma management in the community.

Ultimately, the project may be used to enhance the management of other conditions, such as chronic airway limitations. For more information about the grant, contact us.

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Profile

Meet the new NPS chair, Dr Janette Randall

Janette Randall, NPS Chair
Janette Randall, NPS Chair

Dr Janette Randall brings a wealth of community health experience to her new role as NPS chair, following the retirement of Dr Roger Boyd from the board of NPS.

Based in Queensland, Dr Randall has worked in General Practice since 1994, and has a special interest and training in mental health.

She is the immediate past Chair of the Queensland General Practice Advisory Council, and continues to represent Queensland Divisions on the Council.

She is also a member of the Bayside Health Community Council, and an immediate past member of the Queensland Chronic Disease Strategy implementation steering committee.

Already experienced in working with NPS, Dr Randall was first elected to the NPS Board in May 2006. For the past year she has been chairing the NPS Audit Committee. Currently, she is a member of the NPS New Drugs working group

Looking to the future, Dr Randall says: 'Over the next five to ten years, the Board would like to see NPS become an even stronger voice for QUM. We will achieve this through more robust partnerships, a higher profile in the community, and by leveraging our successes.'

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Free information

Generic medicines

Interested in generic medicines and want to know more?

Research shows that 97% of people know about generic medicines and of those up to 76% are thinking of switching to generic medicines.

The following NPS information can assist consumers to make informed decisions about switching to a generic medicine:

Other resources

To view and order NPS's extensive range of medicines information resources download an order form or go to NPS website catalogue.

Follow these links to subscribe or unsubscribe to NPS Community e.news.

National Prescribing Service Limited (NPS) is an independent, non-profit organisation for Quality Use of Medicines. We provide accurate, balanced, evidence-based information and services to help people choose if, when and how to use medicines to improve their health and wellbeing. We are member-based and work in partnership with health professionals, government, pharmaceutical industry and consumers. NPS is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

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Date published: 2007-10-01 00:00:00

Reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the date of creation. This information is not intended as a substitute for medical advice from a qualified health professional. Health professionals should rely on their own expertise and enquiries when providing medical advice or treatment. Where permitted by law, NPS disclaims all liability (including for negligence) for any loss, damage or injury resulting from reliance on or use of this information. Read our full disclaimer.

References to brands should not be taken as an endorsement by NPS.