EDITORIAL

VALE GEORGE ECKERT (1931 - 2004)
Mel Sutherland....
Origins and Outcomes
Jim Eckert remembers....
Dr Jim Eckert is George's younger brother , a pharmacy graduate and retired University of Sydney chemistry lecturer.
Editor's Note:
George Eckert was a charismatic individual who had the ability to not just "teach" university students, but to "learn" them.
I too, include myself as being one of those fortunate students at Sydney University in the late 1950's, able to attend lectures in pharmacology, presented by George.

Woolworths Rx - Is the Pressure Off?
NEIL JOHNSTON
Management Consultant Perspective

The ongoing warfare between public company retailers and pharmacists (represented by the PGA) peaked in activity recently when the Federal Government (in an election year) came out and backed pharmacists as far as ownership was concerned.
And thus a "blip" on the radar screen was observed, as ownership and the total number of pharmacies that can be owned per pharmacist, was again enshrined in protective legislation.

PHARMA-GOSS
With Rollo Manning
A regular column reporting the news behind the news

* CONFLICT OF INTEREST COULD BE NEXT
* FRIENDLY SOCIETY LEADERS MUST BE WONDERING
* VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT GETS HALF THE STORY
* VALE GEORGE ECKERT

Australian Pharmacy at War Against Obesity :
Part 2. Campaigns on the Home Front
CON BERBATIS
A Pharmacy Researcher Perspective

In Part 1 (i2P May 2004) Con Berbatis reported the global threat to health posed in 2004 by overweight in developed countries and the frontline role for pharmacy in fighting the war against obesity. Community pharmacy's weight-lowering weaponry has been strengthened by the advent on 1 May 2004 of pharmacist-only orlistat, one of just four weight reduction pharmaco-therapies approved in Australia. 1-14
Part 2 points to the spread of obesity into developing countries as well, the anti-obesity campaigns being waged by Australian pharmacy on the home front and future strategies for pharmacy to adopt.
Pharmacists with weight management expertise in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory have reviewed drafts of Parts 1 and 2 but please email Con Berbatis before citing the data.

Pharmeasy - An Alliance Opportunity?
JAMES ELLERSON
Marketing Consultant Perspective

Recent attempts by Woolworths to open up pharmacy ownership have sparked media comment and frenzied political lobbying by the PGA.
For the moment, the PGA appear to have contained the ownership issue to a managable level, but obviously there has been interest generated from a range of other organisations who can see, from their perspective, better ways of marketing and managing some activities of pharmacy.
This interest, while in many ways threatening to the official interests of pharmacy, could represent creative alliance opportunities to advance the cause of pharmacy, while simultaneously increase the diversity and opportunities within pharmacy.

Black and White Bars and Invisible Signals
PATRICK GALLAGHER
An IT Consultant Perspective

Gosh you lot are a reticent crowd.
Or, is that you are all so busy that you read the articles and do not express, back to the editor, any opinion on the opinions?
Writing about 'IT' in pharmacy is not an endless landscape and there is only so much we can cover if the discussion is one-way.
That is, exploring subjects is made more difficult if it is conducted in a vacuum.
That said, let's try another tack

Complementary Medicines and Health Policy
VAL JOHANSON
A Complementary Healthcare Council Perspective

With surveys in Australia confirming over 70% of Australians use natural healthcare products or complementary medicines, the CHC is calling on the Government to establish a Natural Healthcare Authority to co-ordinate research, and disseminate information and education based on this research.
The CHC has also been urging the Government to fund an health economics study to demonstrate the potential cost savings from a health policy based on wellness and prevention and encompassing natural healthcare as a key component.

Encrytion-Another Tool to Master
PETER SAYERS
Pharmacy Practice Management Perspective

When you send a letter using a postcard, it is generally a brief communication, often accompanied with a photographic illustration.
The message as a whole conveys a snapshot in the life of the writer, but it suffers from one major flaw - it is open for the whole world to read in every detail.
It is possibly the most non-private communication of all.
And the nearest electronic equivalent of the postcard is e-mail.

Musing on Money, Value and the Cost of Healthy Communities
HEATHER PYM
A Division of General Practice Perspective

I have been reading the NPS information on Proton Pump Inhibitors - PPIs - as I imagine many of us pharmacists have recently with the mailing of an excellent Prescribing Practice Review - PPR -to pharmacists along with an NPS Pharmacy Letter.
The PPR is headed "Proton Pump Inhibitors: too much of a good thing? " and raises some interesting questions for me as an older pharmacist musing on how this dyspepsia /reflux condition has been dealt with over the years therapeutically.

New Initiative from Self-Medication Industry
CHRIS ARBLASTER
A Consumer Self-Care Perspective

Editor's Note: Chris Arblaster is a new writer for i2P and will be providing regular information on self-care initiatives and developments.
Pharmacy has a substantial investment in self-care, and given the rapid expansion of retirees as a total percentage of Australia's population, self-care has to be a major initiative if Australia is going to be able to fund the health of its aging population, which is the most medically intensive of all population sub-groups.
Self-care implies that consumers have sufficient education and information to become proficient in managing and taking responsibility for their own health.
Following this logic, pharmacy is regarded as being a primary centre for the education and distribution of information to health consumers, mainly because of accessibility and trained personnel.
The logistical problem for pharmacy is how to retain the majority segment of health expenditure.
After arming consumers with the requisite information and knowledge, there is the frustration of seeing flow-on consumer spending drift to non-pharmacy outlets, often at discounted prices that pharmacy has difficulty matching, and sold in a manner often at odds with pharmacy professional training.
It also encompasses issues of brand switching and down-scheduling of restricted products.
The challenge for pharmacists lies in how to develop tactics and strategies, to ensure the high cost involved in consumer education actually gives an adequate return on investment.

Annual Meeting for Digital Imaging Group
LES BRENER
A Digital Imaging Perspective

DIGITAL PHOTO KIOSKS bring new meanings to the term photofinishing and the future prospects for "D & P" in Pharmacies.
The PMA Australian Pharmacy Group was established over a year ago and the second annual meeting was held at the PMA's Australian Convention at Darling Harbour Sydney on Sunday 23rd of May 2004.