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| 20 Jun 2008
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Pharmacists could help on allergy
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Local pharmacists could help bridge the gap in allergy care, experts said today.
Pharmacists, who sell hay fever remedies, seek allergy sufferers as much as any health professionals and could play a key role, according to leading medical journal The Lancet today.
Experts writing in the Lancet agree that patients are being "badly let down" through lack of specialist facilities.
The journal says some 3.3 million people in Britain suffer from hay fever. It says improved hygiene and environmental pollution may both play a part in the increasing rate of allergy.
An editorial says: "There are inadequate facilities, resources, and specialists. But this disappointing situation could be turned around with the help of a health worker that is frequently overlooked but often the first point of contact for people with allergies - community pharmacists."
It adds: "Community pharmacists are keen, willing, and able to do more in primary care and so should grab the opportunity to step up and fill the cavernous hole of allergy knowledge, treatment, and management."
The journal says the Royal College of Physicians and the British department of health have both acknowledged a shortage of allergy specialists - but primary care trusts, which manage local health budgets, have allergy "at the bottom" of their priorities.
Editorial: Allergic rhinitis; common, costly, and neglected. The Lancet, Vol. 371, June 21, 2008, p. 2057.
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