What would you do if you won the Lotto and your prize was 31 million rand each year for the rest of your life, subject to two conditions? First, the money would be paid to you daily and any money unspent each day would be forfeited – it may not be saved. Second, at any time, the lottery may go bankrupt, although this seemed highly unlikely in the near future. Let me guess. Initially, you would go on a wild spending spree, just like a child in a toy shop. After a while, the urge to spend the money each day would decrease, especially as you become accustomed to having your bank account being refreshed daily. Rather like an adult, the future is taken for granted, your behaviour lacks spontaneity, and you become a rather boring, rich person.

In the ideal world, every neonate would receive the polio and BCG vaccines at birth. This would be the start of the childhood immunisation schedule which would be completed by school-going age. By that stage, every child would be protected against the most serious childhood and many of the adult infectious diseases. No child would miss any of their vaccinations along the way and no children would move to another country halfway through the schedule….

This series of articles takes a look at some of the bare essentials of management. This first article provides an overview of the key elements whilst later articles offer some “how to do” tips. This is a “back to basics” series. Readers will, in most cases, be reminded of what they already know to be true. They will be challenged to reflect on their own attitudes and practises. Since the real world does not always lend itself to some of the suggestions that will be made, you are encouraged to email your comments, positive or negative, to me at b.futter@ru.ac.za.

Is Naturopathy another weird therapy that pharmacists should know about? Fasting to relieve the symptoms of an upset stomach, bathing an aching joint or eating a sensible balanced diet to maintain good health are all examples of Naturopathy. But, Naturopathy is also more than this.

Leading Pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca is revisiting the whole issue of pharmacovigilance. Announcing the launch of a comprehensive new initiative, Prof Matt Haus, Medical Director at AstraZeneca, said:

“As First World standards of medical practice reach further and further into the four corners of the global village, the increasing number of drugs coming on to the market and the ever-growing number of users of medicinal products, call for greater vigilance and accountability in our industry. The entire profession, from manufacturer to practitioner has a compelling obligation to maintain the most exacting standards of vigilance, reporting, data collation, analysis and communication.”

First graduates of the collaborative BPharm Degree of MEDUNSA and Technikon Pretoria

Communicating Medicine Information to the Low-literate Patient

A recent article in the Tincture Press indicated that some members are not fully informed about the Drug Wise Campaign and its activities.

The annual Pharmintercom meeting of the Seven Nation Group (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America) took place in Colorado Springs during October 2002.

Urinalysis is the process by which the composition and physical attributes of urine are utilised to determine the presence of disease or underlying pathology. Obviously, not all pathologies can be detected in urine and urinalysis is generally preferred as a screening tool.

This article will provide a brief overview of the data that supports the use of oestrogen in managing patients who develop symptoms that arise as a result of menopause.

Acne is the most common skin condition treated by dermatologists. Acne is a polymorphic disease exhibiting a number of diverse lesions: comedones, papules, pus-tules, nodules, cysts, sinuses and scars. Despite this diversity, acne can be reduced to a two-stage sequence of events. Firstly an abnormal hyper-cornification and desquamation in the infun-dibular segment of the pilosebaceous unit (the infundibulum is the part of the hair follicle from the orifice of the sebaceous gland duct to the opening on the surface) leads to the formation of a comedo, initially without an inflammatory component; later an inflammatory reaction results in disorganisation of the epithelial capsule.

Gastro oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) and dyspepsia are two of the most common diagnoses made in general practice. This article will address some of the diagnostic features, investigations and treatment of GORD. Dyspepsia will be discussed in a later article.

The Government Gazette of 6 December 2002, No. 24116, announced that the SA Pharmacy Council has resolved to investigate the principle of franchising of retail pharmacies in South Africa and of the use of trading titles or trademarks or logos or “brand names” by retail pharmacies. To achieve this objective, the Council has appointed its Registration and Permits Committee to conduct an investigation.