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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.
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