Tawam Hospital in affiliation with Johns Hopkins Medicine has announced that it will be launching its Medication Safety Awareness Week campaign from March 8th – 12th, 2009.
The five day campaign ‘Medication Safety – A Road Taken Together,’ kicked off on Saturday, March 7th with an opening ceremony at the Rotana Hotel, Al Ain Abu Dhabi. The ceremony will be followed by 5 days of activities and events promoting medication safety. The campaign will target healthcare providers and the general public, and will include:
Public awareness activities at Al Ain Mall and Al Bawadi Mall where Tawam will offer education and medication advice from 10.00 – 14.00 and 18.00 and 22.00 from March 8 to 12.
An exhibition for healthcare providers to update them on the latest news and developments in medication safety.
“Educating healthcare providers and the general public about medication safety is a top priority for Tawam Hospital. It is absolutely essential that people are well informed about their medications, possible side effects and how and when to take them. This campaign seeks to provide answers to obvious and more specific questions regarding medication safety,” said Tawam’s Head of Pharmacy, Dr. Hashem A Tarifi.
Throughout the campaign, the pharmacy team from Tawam Hospital will educate healthcare providers on best safe medication practices and will discuss the following topics:
Promoting a culture of safety that emphasizes a fair and just approach to medication error report.
Highlight areas of concern with regard to medication safety for healthcare providers within their scope of practice as a team.
Discuss the importance of teamwork and communication in healthcare, to name a few.
With regards to raising awareness for the general public, pharmacy staff from Tawam Hospital will be available to discuss specific medication related questions to improve perceptions and understanding of medication safety.
Commenting on the importance of medication safety, Dr. Hashem A Tarifi added:
“As medication safety is the key to our patient’s well being at Tawam, we are committed to providing ongoing comprehensive information. This includes everything from foods or beverages to avoid whilst on medication, best time to take the medication, not sharing medication with friends or family and being aware of taking medications at the same time as taking herbal treatments.”
Tawam’s top tips regarding medication safety include:
Maintain a current list of all medications that you take including prescribed medications nonprescription drugs, herbal supplements, home remedies, and medical foods. Also, keep a list of any food or drug allergies you may have, and share this information with your pharmacist or healthcare provider.
Tell your healthcare provider how you actually take your medications, especially if this differs from the original prescription’s directions.
Learn the name of your medication, dosage strength, route of administration and frequency schedule, as well as possible side effects.
Ask if you should avoid certain foods, beverages, other drugs or activities while you are taking the medications
Ask for any written information or leaflets available on the drug products.
Tawam Hospital, which is managed by John Hopkins Medicine is owned and operated by SEHA, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company [which is responsible for the curative activities of all the public hospitals and clinics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.]
