COMMUNITY pharmacists have a key role to play in helping patients to manage cases of sore throat, while limiting "unwarranted use of antibiotics", International Pharmaceutical Federation President, Dominique Jordan, believes.
In the forward to FIP's Sore throat - Quick reference guide for pharmacists (which was launched last week), Jordan said the condition was "usually self-limiting, but leads to frequent consultations with community pharmacists".
"Pharmacy teams can play a supportive role in the identification of symptoms and their respective management through non-prescription medicines, as well as non-pharmacological interventions," he said.
"Pharmacists can play an important role in the screening and referring of patients, in addition to educating them about the consequence of the inappropriate use of antibiotics.
"As a community pharmacist, I hope you will find this publication useful for your work and easy to use.
"I hope this guidance will serve as a reminder of the importance of this topic and how, as pharmacists, we can effectively contribute to better health and more sustainable health systems."
In addition to providing advice on management options for the treatment of sore throat, the guide also covers point-of-care tests for streptococcus.
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