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HEALTH VITAMINS MINERALS AND SUPPLEMENTS 77 By Peter Howard. It’s not that hard Whether you’re an advocate, a sceptic or a passionate detractor, vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) represent a significant and valuable category for community pharmacies. It brings in regular revenue, attracts a steady stream of customers and offers a healthy in-store option for patients who might otherwise put themselves at risk using cut-price alternatives bought online. With VMS, as with all food, we can have too little or too much, but the sheer volume of information available from multiple different sources can make product selection and use confusing. This includes consumers being bombarded with unregulated online advertising, much of it making outrageous claims about miracle cures and life-changing transformations that the unwary often believe. While health professionals know there are also companies supplying high quality products with genuine health benefits when used appropriately, surveys indicate the three most common sources of information on complementary medicines, as reported by consumers, are family and friends, the internet, and health food store workers. This makes it clear there is an opportunity for pharmacists to assist consumers with advice on VMS. In this article we aim to bring clarity, consistency and common sense to this much maligned and often misunderstood category. If pharmacists, who are among our most trusted health professionals, can pro-actively support patients with VMS education and advice, it will assist in achieving better patient health outcomes, while the pharmacist’s own VMS category is likely to thrive. The importance of professional advice According to Roy Morgan Research, a 2019 survey indicates that more than 8.3 million Australians buy VMS, spending more than $1 billion every year on the products. TO PAGE 78 ADDED RETAIL PHARMACY • MAY 2021