Be Medicinewise Week is an annual, national awareness week that promotes the safer and wiser use of medicines. This year, Be Medicinewise Week will be held 22–28 August 2016.
This year, we will be encouraging Australians to take charge of their health by being medicinewise, and raising awareness on the importance of having conversations about medicines. The campaign is encouraging people to:
- Ask the right questions
- Ask the right people
- Follow the right advice
To be medicinewise you should ask questions to make sure you fully understand everything about the medications you are taking;
- what is the medicine for?
- what is the active ingredient?
- how do I take or use this medicine correctly?
- what are the possible side effects, and what can I do about them?
- what should or shouldn’t I do when taking this medication?
Remember to check the expiry dates of your medications, taking expired medication can be harmful or not give you the intended effect. You can these to your pharmacy, where they will be correctly destroyed – don’t throw medications in the rubbish or toilet!
You can make an appointment with our GP’s to discuss and review your medications, call 8038 1070 or book online.
Visit the NPS Medicinewise website for more information.