PC5512 - Pharmaceutical Public Health Priorities

Credit points:	03
Year:	2011
Student Contribution Band:	Band 2
Administered by:	School of Pharmacy & Molecular Sciences

Pharmaceutical Public Health is a developing specialty which seeks to influence pharmaceutical health determinants on a population basis, rather than having a focus on the individual patient. Primary areas of activity for pharmaceutical public health are in rural and remote health services, developing country health services, and in regulatory activities associated with pharmaceutical services. The broad nature of this specialty ensures that it is of relevance to community pharmacists, hospital pharmacists, academic pharmacists, regulatory affairs pharmacists, and to those pharmacists who are engaged in public health activities in developing countries. This subject is divided into four units the first of which introduces the student to health challenges in indigenous communities in Australia. These communities face particular challenges in access to pharmaceutical services. The next topic to be covered is that of immunisation of populations and vaccine security (ensuring that adequate quantities of correctly stored vaccines are available where they are required for immunisation programs). This is followed by a consideration of sexual and reproductive health and the importance of ensuring that people can access sexual health commodities of their choice without experiencing any impediment to such access. The subject concludes with an investigation of recreational drug use and substance (glue, petrol) abuse. This topic is all about harm reduction in the interest of ensuring public health and will encourage students to consider the risks and benefits of deregulating whilst still controlling, access to recreational drugs.

Learning Outcomes

• be able to describe the reasons for unsatisfactory health outcomes in indigenous communities in Australia and to identify methods for ensuring access to pharmaceutical services in remote indigenous communities;
• understand the individual and public health reasons for immunisation programs to ensure herd immunity in populations;
• be able to manage storage and distribution of vaccines from a central health authority to remote areas;
• be able to manage storage and distribution of all sexual and reproductive health commodities from central health authorities to remote areas with a focus on ensuring unrestricted access;
• be able to describe the factors involved in recreational drug use and to identify inherent dangers and to be able to implement and promote non-judgemental pharmaceutical services which lead to harm reduction in recreational drug use.

Graduate Qualities

• The ability to use independent judgment to synthesise information to make intellectual and/or creative advances.

Availabilities
External, Study Period 2
Census Date 25-Aug-2011
Coord/Lect:	Assoc. Professor Ian Heslop.
Method of Delivery:	WWW - LearnJCU and Printed materials
Assessment:	end of semester exam (50%); osce (15%); assignments (15%); assignment (20%).

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.