Pharmacists in Wales are helping patients lower their risk of stroke this month in a national MUR-based campaign.

The country's 714 pharmacies will use MURs to discuss the risks with patients suffering with high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation (AF), as part of the Lower Your Risk of Stroke campaign run by Public Health Wales, the seven Welsh Health Boards, Community Pharmacy Wales and the Stroke Association.

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	Pharmacists will also offer discharge medicine reviews to patients who have suffered a stroke and advise customers on how to recognise the signs of a stroke to increase the chance of survival.

The campaign, launched by health minister Mark Drakeford at Walter Lloyd Pharmacy in Camarthen yesterday (May 2), includes a range of events, such as community fairs, going on across Wales throughout May.

"Stroke is a massive killer in Wales, the fourth biggest. However, if people act fast and learn to recognise the signs, they can increase their chance of survival and limit damage in the brain," said Professor Sir Mansel Aylward, chair of Public Health Wales.

"By working with pharmacists across Wales we can get this important message out to the people who are at greatest risk."

About 11,000 people in Wales have a stroke each year, according to the Stroke Association. Almost 40 per cent of strokes caused by clots are related to high blood pressure and people with AF are five times more likely to have a stroke.