Young Hong Kong pharmacists hope to fill gap in care by helping patients take medicines properly and countering superstition

Karen Lau and Matthew Wong regularly visit elderly people in their homes. The young pharmacists, aged 25 and 28, see patients with chronic illnesses. They help review their medication, and check that they are taking the correct drugs in the right dosages and at the right times.

The pair are also members of Pharmacists Connect, whose main goal is to improve public health by ensuring patients understand how to use medicines prescribed them and the need to follow doctors’ instructions about when and how they should be taken.

The group is made up of young pharmacists who want to shape the future of their profession and collaborate with other health professionals. It is one of three Hong Kong-based societies with similar goals that seek to educate the public and broaden the role of pharmacists within the community.

25pc of patients don’t take prescribed medication, survey finds

Lau, who participates in community outreach programmes with a charitable foundation in Hong Kong, says many patients skip a dose, take more medication than prescribed, take it at the wrong time – or don’t take it at all. The consequences can be harmful, sometimes even fatal.

She recounts one near fatality. “He [the patient] was over 90 years old and had had seven strokes in the past. He was supposed to be on aspirin or another antiplatelet medication but wasn’t taking it, because he was convinced aspirin was making him dizzy.”

Even after his doctor changed the medication to deal with the dizziness, he refused to take it. “Because he had to buy [the medication], he didn’t take it because he believed the purchase was a waste of money. On top of that, his blood pressure was extremely high but he wouldn’t admit that he had hypertension.”