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 Thanks
to modern science, Americans can now benefit from more medications
than ever before. Unfortunately, that also means Americans have
a larger risk of misusing them. Today, over half of all people
who use medications don't use them correctly. The consequences
can be serious, even fatal. Adverse drug reactions cause as many
as 10% of all hospital admissions, and medication misuse is estimated
to cost Americans over $76 billion a year. Medication errors
can be particularly pronounced when people lack information,
have limited reading skills, and have language or cultural barriers.
This
risk is especially acute for women, because they often dispense
medications to family members, and women over 45 use more medicines
than any other group. To deal with this serious problem and to
help women lead healthier, longer lives, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration's Office of Women's Health (OWH) created the "Women's
Health: Take Time To Care" (TTTC) national public awareness campaign
about safe medicine use. (Highlights
of the campaign.) The only campaign of its kind in the
U.S., TTTC targets women with a critical message: "Use Medicines
Wisely." In addition to disseminating safety information through
consumer literature and the media, TTTC promotes local, interactive
educational sessions led by pharmacists and other health professionals
throughout the country. (Read what women
had to say about the campaign.)
With the
National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) as an official
co-sponsor, the TTTC campaign was an unprecedented partnership
of more than 80 nonprofit and corporate supporters, as well as
thousands of chain drug stores across the country. By leveraging
these partners' energy and resources, TTTC delivered medicine
safety messages to local audiences across the country, from senior
citizens to students, Native Americans to Hmong immigrants, CEOs
to waitresses. |
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Use Medicines Wisely Campaign
"My Medicines" brochure
(in English and Spanish, and also in Cambodian, Chinese, Hmong,
Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Polish, Samoan, Tagalog, Thai, and
Vietnamese)
Additional Campaign Materials and Links
Participating Pharmacies List
Participating Organizations List
More Information About Take Time To Care
Activities
Hospital Campaign
OWH Receives Pinnacle
Award
*Urgent Message for Women
About Medicine*
30 - 50% of people don't take their medicine as prescribed. FDA
estimates this costs the American public $76.6 billion/year in
preventable medicine-related illness.
2.8 billion prescriptions will be dispensed this year.
3 out of 4 doctor visits result in a prescription.
Adverse drug reactions are estimated to be
responsible for as many as 10% of all hospital admissions. |
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More Information
Fact sheets
Using
Medicine Safely Consumer Education Page
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
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