PSI Public Health — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the pharmacist's role in smoking cessation in Ireland?
- Providing advice, support, and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to patients who wish to quit smoking, including behavioural counselling and follow-up (Correct answer)
- Pharmacists have no role in smoking cessation
- Only selling nicotine patches without advice
- Referring all smokers to their GP without any intervention
Correct answer: Providing advice, support, and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to patients who wish to quit smoking, including behavioural counselling and follow-up
Pharmacists are ideally placed for smoking cessation support through brief interventions, motivational counselling, supply of NRT products (patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers), and follow-up. The HSE QUIT programme works with community pharmacies to provide structured cessation services.
Question 2: What is the National Immunisation Programme in Ireland and what is the pharmacist's role?
- A publicly funded programme providing vaccines to protect against infectious diseases; pharmacists can administer certain vaccines (flu, COVID-19) and provide vaccine information to the public (Correct answer)
- Pharmacists have no involvement in vaccination
- The programme only operates in hospitals
- Pharmacists only store vaccines but never administer them
Correct answer: A publicly funded programme providing vaccines to protect against infectious diseases; pharmacists can administer certain vaccines (flu, COVID-19) and provide vaccine information to the public
Ireland's National Immunisation Programme provides free vaccines through a schedule covering childhood, adolescent, and adult vaccinations. Since 2011, trained pharmacists can administer seasonal flu vaccines, and this role expanded to include COVID-19 vaccination. Pharmacists also play a key role in public education about vaccination.
Question 3: What is the pharmacist's role in managing substance misuse in Ireland?
- Supervising methadone consumption for opioid-dependent patients, providing needle exchange services, supplying naloxone, and supporting patients in recovery (Correct answer)
- Pharmacists have no role in substance misuse services
- Only dispensing methadone without any supervision
- Refusing to serve patients with addiction issues
Correct answer: Supervising methadone consumption for opioid-dependent patients, providing needle exchange services, supplying naloxone, and supporting patients in recovery
Community pharmacists are central to substance misuse services in Ireland through the Methadone Treatment Protocol Scheme (supervised consumption), needle and syringe programmes, naloxone (Nyxoid) provision for opioid overdose reversal, and providing accessible, non-judgemental healthcare to this vulnerable population.
Question 4: What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and why should pharmacists be concerned?
- The ability of microorganisms to resist the effects of antimicrobial drugs; pharmacists play a key role in combating AMR through antimicrobial stewardship and patient education (Correct answer)
- AMR is only a hospital problem
- Pharmacists cannot influence AMR
- AMR only affects antibiotics, not other antimicrobials
Correct answer: The ability of microorganisms to resist the effects of antimicrobial drugs; pharmacists play a key role in combating AMR through antimicrobial stewardship and patient education
AMR is a global public health emergency. Pharmacists combat AMR by: ensuring antibiotics are only used when appropriate, counselling patients on completing courses, advising on self-care for viral infections (not antibiotics), promoting appropriate OTC alternatives, and supporting national AMR action plans.
Question 5: What health screening services can pharmacists provide in Ireland?
- Blood pressure monitoring, blood glucose testing, cholesterol screening, BMI assessment, and health risk assessments (Correct answer)
- Pharmacists cannot provide any screening services
- Only GP practices can offer health screenings
- Pharmacists can only provide advice, not measurements
Correct answer: Blood pressure monitoring, blood glucose testing, cholesterol screening, BMI assessment, and health risk assessments
Community pharmacists increasingly provide accessible health screening services including blood pressure measurement, blood glucose testing, cholesterol checks, BMI calculation, and general health assessments. These services improve early detection of conditions like hypertension and diabetes.
Question 6: What is the pharmacist's role in promoting public health during a pandemic?
- Providing reliable health information, maintaining medicine supply, administering vaccines, conducting testing, supplying PPE, and serving as accessible healthcare professionals (Correct answer)
- Closing the pharmacy until the pandemic ends
- Only dispensing prescriptions with no other involvement
- Pandemics have no impact on pharmacy practice
Correct answer: Providing reliable health information, maintaining medicine supply, administering vaccines, conducting testing, supplying PPE, and serving as accessible healthcare professionals
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated pharmacists' critical public health role: they maintained essential medicine supplies, provided reliable health information, administered vaccines, supported testing, supplied PPE, and served as a vital point of healthcare access when other services were restricted.
PSI Public Health
What is the pharmacist's role in smoking cessation in Ireland?