Self-Medication In The UK: New Research

In the UK, an estimated 14% of all National Health Service prescriptionsare being written each year to treat conditions that people could have managed at home, at a cost to the NHS of more than L380 million ($635.7 million) a year, according to Sheila Kelly, executive director of the Proprietary Association of Great Britain.

These conditions represent 63 million prescriptions a year and 96 million general practitioner consultations, or up to 39% of total GP time, Ms Kelly told a recent debate organized by the PAGB and the NHS Executive to mark the 50th anniversary of the NHS.

At the meeting, Ms Kelly revealed the findings of a new study of UK consumers' attitudes to and practice of self-medication, conducted by BMRB International on behalf of the PAGB. Similar research had been carried out in 1986.