MHRA: Share our festive fake medicines advent calendar
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has urged pharmacists to get involved in its festive campaign to increase public understanding of counterfeit medicines.
The watchdog has launched a 'FakeMeds' advent calendar to draw attention to the different aspects of fake medicines currently available in the UK.
It is encouraging community pharmacists to join the campaign by using the #FakeMeds hashtag and promote its advent calendar, which will reveal a new piece of content – including tips about some of the most common falsified products in the UK market – every day until Christmas.
MHRA senior policy manager Lynda Scammell told C+D on Monday (December 5) that the watchdog also wants to help “legitimate pharmacies” by raising awareness of the distance-selling logo for online pharmacies and how to report counterfeits via its hotline.
“We [have] found that understanding of falsified medicines among the public is low, in terms of what the risks are and how to buy safely," Ms Scammell said. "The advent calendar is a light-hearted way to deliver a serious public health message."
“We would love pharmacies to get involved in the campaign by promoting the calendar over their own social media," Ms Scammell added.
How often do you see patients with fake medicines?