Be Medicinewise Week from August 20-26 encourages all Australians to make informed and responsible decisions when it comes to managing their health.
The annual awareness week is an initiative of not-for-profit group NPS MedicineWise.
It aims to promote awareness and encourage families to make good decisions about their medicines, medical tests and other health choices.
The website offers a host of downloadable resources that provide useful information about responsible medicine use and other ways people can ensure they are taking the right steps to manage their health.
Resources include information on giving medicine to children, how to remember which medicines you are taking, when to take medication and how to store and dispose of it.
Each year more than 230,000 Australians are hospitalised with problems caused by their medicine.
In addition, 61 per cent of Australians have stopped their medicine without consulting a health professional or have not taken medicines as directed.
The website also contains links to a number of other useful resources.
These include a link to Choosing Wisely Australia, which promotes conversations between patients and healthcare providers about improving the quality of healthcare by eliminating unnecessary tests, treatments, and procedures.
For more information, click here.
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