Health experts have called on pharmacists to challenge patients' use of antibiotics, to coincide with the launch of two public health campaigns. 

Pharmacists had a "really important role" in educating patients about the correct use of antibiotics as GPs were often too busy to do it, said pharmacist Naomi Flemming, who specialises in antimicrobial resistance. 

If patients were unsure why a GP had refused to prescribe antibiotics, pharmacists could explain the decision and suggest a minor ailments scheme to provide symptomatic relief, suggested Ms Flemming, who works at Central and North West London-Milton Keynes NHS Foundation Trust.

European Antibiotics Awareness Day on Monday (November 18) and Pharmacy Voice's Treat Yourself Better Without Antibiotics (TYB) campaign, launched this week, were opportunities for pharmacists to "challenge people's perceptions" about their antibiotics use, said Pharmacy Voice chief executive Rob Darracott.

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	The aim of the TYB campaign was to stop patients demanding "antibiotics as a winter remedy", Mr Darracott told C+D. Research carried out by the pharmacy body involving 2,000 adults showed that almost half did not know antibiotics were a "pointless" treatment for viral infections, Mr Darracott said.

Pharmacists can access selfcare guidance on coughs, sore throats, flu, indigestion, earache and fever in children through the TYB website. In spring, the campaign would switch its focus to hayfever, he added.

The Department of Health (DH) said it hoped for greater involvement from community pharmacists in this year's European Antibiotics Awareness Day. The day was an "excellent platform to raise professional and public awareness about antibiotic overuse and resistance", said England's chief pharmaceutical officer Keith Ridge and chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies, in a letter to commissioners in September.

Up to 90 per cent of antibiotics were prescribed in primary care and it was of "paramount importance" that the public and clinicians were educated about the responsible use of antibiotics, they said.

Pharmacists can download a video about antibiotics awareness and screen it in their patient waiting areas as part of the awareness day. Posters and quizzes to educate patients are available from the DH website.

The TYB campaign is being run in conjunction with the Proprietary Association of Great Britain and the Self-Care Forum. It includes a website and factsheets to encourage patients to self-treat their winter ailments with pharmacy support, as well as guides to ensure pharmacy teams and other healthcare professionals deliver a consistent message about antibiotics use.