UK - Call for medicines to be sugar-free

Call for medicines to be sugar-free
2:14pm Wednesday 31st December 2008
By Claire Lomax »
Pharmacists and oral health staff are teaming up to encourage the use of sugar-free medicines in a bid to improve dental health in the district.
A campaign is taking place throughout January aimed at increasing the number of sugar-free prescriptions and over the counter medicines available to patients and to raise awareness of the impact that medicines containing sugar have on teeth.
The district has one of the worst oral health records in the country with more than half of children having experienced dental disease. Sugars in medicines can cause tooth decay but many medicines, including those sold without prescription, have sugar-free alternatives. The use of these is particularly important if the treatment is being given long-term.
Lynn Owen, senior oral health promotion officer at Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust, said: “We want to promote routine prescribing of sugar-free medicines with clinicians.
“We also aim to encourage pharmacy staff to stock and recommend sugar-free alternatives to the most commonly-used prescriptions and general sale medications.”