People across the Lothians are being encouraged to check they have basic home remedies in ahead of the Festive and New Year holidays to avoid having to find a pharmacy on a bank holiday.
Dr John McAnaw, a pharmacist and NHS 24’s Associate Clinical Director says most seasonal illnesses can be looked after at home with self-care and things like paracetamol: ‘Christmas is a fun but hectic time for most people. It’s easy to get swept up in the festive atmosphere and forget that health should be on your priority list.
‘Making sure you have home remedies for common ailments will save you time and help you focus on the celebrations. NHS 24’s 111 service is there to help if you need urgent health care support, but we know that roughly 30% of people who call 111 need self-help advice on common illnesses and conditions that can normally be managed at home.
‘Avoiding the need to call 111 means the service can help those who need urgent help more quickly, and also save you the bother of trying to find a local pharmacy.
Dr McAnaw continues: ‘I would recommend you have pain relief such as paracetamol or ibuprofen at home. For little ones get age-appropriate pain remedies which you can also get in liquid form. In the case of fevers, a thermometer is also a good idea as it means you can monitor temperatures accurately.
‘To cover accidents, I’d recommend reviewing your first-aid kit and make sure it is stocked with things like plasters, antiseptic, and bandages. For common conditions such as rashes, tummy upsets and earaches, NHS inform has lots of information on how to treat these at home and when to seek medical help.
Dr McAnaw’s advice is part of an NHSScotland national health campaign ‘Healthy Know How.’ The campaign provides advice on how to stay well and enjoy the festivities, avoiding the need to get medical help over the holidays. Tips include:
Know how to stay on top of prescriptions. Order only what is needed and in plenty of time before the festive holidays.
Know how to be prepared for common illnesses. Ensure you have some remedies in the house.
Know how to check symptoms if you do become unwell. NHS inform’s symptom checkers can give you all the health advice you need online.
Know how to get the right care, in the right place. Further medical advice can be found during the week by contacting your GP, pharmacist, dentist or optometrist. For out of hours or during holiday closures call NHS 24 on 111.
Study to be used to promote positive action on medicine use and disposal, to reduce pharmaceutical pollution
Data on 60 medicines in the water environment, known to occur through consumption and inappropriate disposal into wastewater systems, were obtained from a range of sources
Nine medicines were recommended for further action to reduce the potential environmental risk
A study carried out by researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) with the James Hutton Institute and the Environmental Research Institute (University of the Highlands and Islands) has delivered the first national assessment of the emerging area of concern around pharmaceutical pollution of Scotland’s water environment, with an innovative Scottish partnership using results to promote practical actions to reduce this globally recognised public health and environmental issue.
Pharmaceuticals (medicines) enter the water environment when people taking medicines go to the toilet (between 30-100% of a dose is excreted) and when partially used or expired medicines are inappropriately flushed down the toilet instead of being returned to a pharmacy for proper disposal.
Information on 60 medicines was added to a database of over 3,000 data points representing 11 ‘types of water’ – such as water in the environment, influent wastewater and treated wastewater.
The study, commissioned by the Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW) to support the work of the One Health Breakthrough Partnership, combined published and unpublished academic data with monitoring data from Scottish Water and SEPA.
Lead researcher Dr Karin Helwig says: “Pharmaceuticals (medicines) are designed to have an effect on humans so it’s no surprise that they affect water organisms, too, and that could disturb the balance in ecosystems.
“There is still much we don’t know about how serious these risks are, but if we value our environment it makes sense to try and reduce this kind of pollution as much as possible.
“Different organisations collect monitoring data for their own different purposes, so it was a real testament to partnership working that we were able to collate everything together and get a clearer picture of this area of emerging concern for the Scottish environment.”
The study found that nine medicines, including ibuprofen (an anti-inflammatory painkiller) and antibiotics, may pose higher risks of ecotoxicity and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), although the authors emphasise that monitoring is often carried out at higher risk locations.
Dangers to human health are extremely unlikely, but the findings do illustrate levels of pharmaceuticals in the environment.
Wastewater treatment plants were not initially designed to treat pharmaceuticals and are unable to treat some pharmaceuticals. So tackling this complex issue requires “up-stream” actions.
The One Health Breakthrough Partnership (OHBP), which was involved in the design and oversight of this study, is a cross-sector initiative bringing together key stakeholders to develop and implement sustainable interventions in healthcare.
NHS Highland lead and OHBP co-founder, Sharon Pfleger, Consultant in Pharmaceutical Public Health, says: “It is important to try to prevent or reduce the impact of pollution by medicines as much as possible rather than trying to deal with the problem.
“That’s why the OHBP is taking an “up-stream” public health approach, ensuring that prescribers and the public understand that medicines do pollute our waters and how they can help, developing guidance for prescribers on more eco-friendly choices of medicines, promoting the use of green and blue spaces to help physical and mental health instead of using medicines and ensuring that people know how to correctly dispose of unused or unwanted medicines.”
The OHBP (Scottish Water, SEPA, NHS Highland, and the Environmental Research Institute-University of the Highlands and Islands) is committed to working with partners to develop solutions and progress the recommendations put forward in this report. Together the OHBP aims to drive research and innovation and influence policy in Scotland to achieve optimal health for people, animals, plants and the environment.
This study recommends that further environmental research be done for areas of the country where few data are available, and, similarly, for groundwater, lochs, and coastal and estuarine waters.
The study will be used by researchers, environmental regulators, the water industry, and the health service as a baseline to assess whether, and to what extent, future interventions and OHBP activities help to reduce pharmaceutical pollution.
The report and its appendices are available on CREW’s website.
Nuromol will become available without the need to visit a pharmacy
Following a public consultation, the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is making Nuromol, a medicine that contains 200mg of ibuprofen and 500mg of paracetamol per tablet available without the need to visit a pharmacy.
Dr Sarah Branch, Director of Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines at the MHRA, said: “This reclassification to general sales list will help people to manage their pain where paracetamol or ibuprofen alone have not provided adequate pain relief.
“Wider availability of medicinal products and improved patient access and choice remain high on the health agenda. The MHRA is committed to improving access to medicinal products for self-care where it is safe to do so.”
Nuromol is used for the temporary relief of mild to moderate pain associated with migraine, headache, backache, period pain, dental pain, rheumatic and muscular pain, pain of non-serious arthritis, cold and flu symptoms, sore throat, and fever when paracetamol or ibuprofen alone have not provided adequate pain relief.
While most people can take paracetamol, ibuprofen is not suitable for everyone, and it is also important that people do not exceed the recommended dose of 1 or 2 tablets not more than 3 times a day.
Patients are also advised not to take more than one paracetamol-containing medicine at the same time.
The MHRA’s decision to reclassify this product follows a review by the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) and a public consultation. The CHM advises ministers on the safety, efficacy and quality of medicinal products.
UK government has now secured 7 million doses of Moderna vaccine, which will be available in Europe as early as spring 2021
trials show vaccine is almost 95% effective
deal means the UK now has access to a total of 357 million doses of vaccines from 7 different developers
The UK government has signed a deal for a further 2 million doses of Moderna’s promising vaccine candidate, bringing the total to 7 million doses for the UK.
Following yesterday’s deal, the UK now has access to enough doses of Moderna’s vaccine candidate for around 3.5 million people.
To be approved for use in the UK, the Moderna vaccine must meet the strict standards of safety and effectiveness of the independent medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). If it is approved, 7 million doses could start to be delivered to the UK as early as spring 2021 – the same timetable as other countries in Europe.
The latest agreement is part of the government’s strategy to develop a diverse portfolio of promising vaccine candidates. The government has now secured 357 million vaccine doses from 7 different developers, giving the UK the best possible chance of protecting the public from coronavirus as soon as possible.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “It is essential that we continue to bolster our portfolio of vaccine candidates to ensure we’re in the best possible position to protect the public once we see that breakthrough.
“The UK was one of the first countries in Europe to sign a deal with Moderna, and I’m delighted we have been able to secure a further 2 million doses of their promising candidate for the British public.”
On 16 November, Moderna published initial data showing that its candidate is nearly 95% effective in protecting against COVID-19, with no safety issues identified to date. The safety data is still to be released by Moderna to show whether the vaccine is both safe and effective. Moderna is currently conducting phase 3 clinical trials of its vaccine and is using mRNA vaccine technology.
Until all the necessary stages are completed and a vaccine has been approved for use by the medicine regulator, the MHRA, the public must continue to take necessary actions to keep themselves and their loved ones safe, including following the Hands, Face, Space guidance and other public health advice in line with the area they live in.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Every week, we are getting more positive news about the range of vaccines in development, and thanks to the work of our taskforce the UK has pre-ordered hundreds of millions of doses from those companies most advanced in their work.
“This includes buying a further 2 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine, on top of the 5 million we’ve already secured.
“With a wide range of vaccine candidates in our portfolio, we stand ready to deploy a vaccine should they receive approval from our medicines regulator, starting with those who will benefit most.”
Chair of the government’s Vaccine Taskforce Kate Bingham said: “Since its inception in June, one of the most important stated aims of the Vaccines Taskforce has been to secure access to the most promising vaccines across a broad range of technologies – thereby increasing the chances of having a safe and effective prevention as soon as possible against COVID-19.
“Moderna’s vaccine was an important addition to our portfolio and securing an additional 2 million doses further adds to the protection we can provide to the public to end the pandemic.”
Sunday’s deal follows the independent regulator’s confirmation this week that it has received the necessary data of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to progress their review into whether the vaccine meets the required standards. Encouraging results from the phase III trials of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca were also published this week.
The UK’s ability to respond to future pandemics will be strengthened thanks to a new £20 million fund to expand medicines manufacturing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today (Monday 30 November).
The Prime Minister will launch the government’s new capital investment fund, the Medicines and Diagnostic Manufacturing Transformation Fund, while visiting North Wales later today.
This will open up investment opportunities for medicines manufacturers in England, Scotland and Wales – improving our domestic medicine supply chains and creating thousands of highly skilled jobs in the process.
This will put UK companies ahead of global competitors in advanced medicines manufacturing, while helping them respond to future healthcare needs – and increasing the overall health resilience of the UK.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: This new £20m fund will significantly increase the capacity and resilience of our medicines and diagnostics manufacturing supply chains and equip us to fight future health crises.
Throughout the pandemic we have seen a coming together of British scientific industry and innovation and this new fund will enhance the UK’s manufacturing capabilities even further.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “The positive and timely response of our medicines manufacturers to the pandemic has been remarkable, but we want to ensure that the UK’s supply chains are even more resilient in the future.
There are huge opportunities for innovation in medicines and diagnostics, and this new fund will put the UK head and shoulders above others, boosting the UK’s capabilities and generating significant economic opportunities across the country.
The pandemic has shown the importance of having a strong domestic medicines and diagnostics manufacturing industry. This new fund has been established to grow and strengthen the UK’s capabilities, by encouraging companies to develop new technologies, build new factories and harness new advances, including bioprocessing, data and using greener manufacturing processes.
With two-thirds of life science manufacturing jobs already outside London and the South East, the fund will also open up economic opportunities in different parts of the UK, creating thousands of new, highly skilled manufacturing jobs while safeguarding existing jobs.
This fund will have an initial pot of £20 million, which will be available from next year, as part of the government’s 2021/2022 Spending Review announced by the Chancellor on 25 November.
Eligible manufacturing companies can bid for the fund to help with their capital costs.
More information will be made available over the coming months, ahead of the fund launching mid-next year. The fund will be run through a competitive process overseen by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
AS EASTER approaches, many people in Scotland will be dusting down the tools or lawnmower as they prepare to make the most of the holiday weekend. For NHS 24’s 111 service that means an increase in calls because people have injured themselves in DIY accidents.Continue reading NHS 24: Stay safe this Easter
