FREE Pharmacy Services

Minor Health Conditions

This winter, Unichem Manly Pharmacy (and some other selected pharmacies) has been chosen by Te Whatu Ora to provide a free Minor Health Conditions Service to our Coastie community.

Minor health conditions are those that can be managed with advice, self-care and in some cases, medicines provided by our pharmacists. Proper management of minor health conditions can prevent more serious conditions from developing or prevent further costly treatment.

What does this free service include? Our pharmacists can give you trusted advice to manage your condition. If recommended, they can provide free treatment options including medicine. If your condition needs further support, they can help you navigate the health system by recommending the best place for you to go for your condition.

Who is eligible? Those eligible for the service are all children aged under 14 years, community service card holders and all Māori and Pacific people. The service runs over winter, from now until Saturday 30 September while our health system is a little stretched.

The following minor health conditions are included in this service: Acute diarrhoea

• Dehydration

• Eye inflammation and infection

• Scabies

• Head lice

• Pain and fever

• Eczema/Dermatitis

• Minor skin infections

• SORE THROAT CONSULTATION SERVICE*

You can have a FREE sore throat consultation at Unichem Manly Pharmacy. Did you know that 8 out of 10 sore throats in adults are because of a virus that can’t be treated with antibiotics?

It’s important to know whether your sore throat is caused by a virus or by a bacteria because that will determine what kind of treatment you need. If you have a sore throat caused by a bacteria, you may need antibiotics and medicines to help you with symptoms such as pain and/or fever. Whereas if your sore throat is caused by a virus, treatment will be limited to treating your symptoms.

Unfortunately, overuse of antibiotics is contributing to a rapid rise in antibiotic resistance. The more we use antibiotics, the more opportunities we give the bacteria to adapt and fight back against them. If overuse of antibiotics continues, they’ll be less effective in treating diseases in the future when we really need them.

So how do you know if you have a sore throat caused by a bacterial infection or a viral infection? To help this problem, Unichem Manly Pharmacy is providing a quick, free consultation service for people with sore throats, including a strep throat test* This is great news if you aren’t sure if your sore throat is bacterial or viral and whether you might need to visit your doctor for antibiotics.