Health Ministry Launches Guide to Empower Patients in Safe Medication Use

The Department of Health has launched a new guide to empower patients in 'best practices' related to the use and consumption of medicines and pharmaceuticals. It aims to 'promote active roles' among users by creating a 'shared safety culture'.

The Director General of Pharmacy, Elena Gras Colomer, has presented the guide, now available on the Department's website, aimed at patients. The document, she emphasized, aims to 'inform, sensitize, and empower' users of the public health system.

This new guide offers a dozen direct messages aimed at patients and users. They address 'issues related' to the proper use of medications to 'ensure effective, safe treatments that achieve the best health outcomes'.

The content highlights topics such as responsible self-medication, the importance of leaflets, or the need to periodically review chronic treatments. Non-pharmacological measures such as a proper diet and physical activity are also proposed as the 'foundation of treatment'.

The main idea of this guide is to foster 'active collaboration' between patients and professionals to achieve 'continuous improvement in healthcare', stated Gras.

Furthermore, the guide addresses the use of medications in specific scenarios, such as pregnancy and breastfeeding, or the significance of antibiotic resistance; it also emphasizes the importance of reporting suspected adverse effects related to pharmaceutical products.