The presentation of the Citizen's Area website, available on the Portuguese Pharmacists' Association website, will be presented at the meeting “Proximity between the Pharmacist and the Citizen”, which will take place in Lisbon and will be dedicated to "promoting health literacy and strengthening the role of pharmacists in the lives of citizens”.

Speaking to the Lusa news agency, the president of the OF, Helder Mota Filipe, explained the importance of opening the Citizens' Area to the entire population, so that they can have access to scientific and credible information “written in an accessible way”.

“In general, there is a problem with health literacy and the provision of a lot of information, through social networks etc., does not always contribute to this literacy because much of the information is not validated and is not correct”, he highlighted.

For Hélder Mota Filipe, it is essential that health professionals and the organizations that represent them can contribute to the accessibility of “adequate, correct information, which allows people to have a better capacity to make decisions and be informed regarding their health and how they can promote health and treat illness”.

This platform also emerged as a response to the PaRIS study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which collects data on patient-reported health outcomes, according to which “just under half of people with chronic diseases in Portugal (49%) receive sufficient support to manage their own health”, a figure below the OECD average (63%).

The PaRIS data also indicate that “Portugal has low digital health literacy, with only 12% of people with chronic diseases declaring themselves confident in using health information from the internet, which is lower than the OECD measure (19%)”.

“If people do not have sufficient information, it is more difficult for them to manage their health and use medicines properly”, said the president, citing the example of the elderly, the population with the most diseases and who need to be prepared to better manage polypharmacy.

“Many of them take more than 10 medications for different pathologies and, if this is difficult to manage in a young person, it is even more difficult in an elderly person and, at the same time, with less [health] literacy, it becomes even more difficult”, he emphasized.

Hélder Mota Filipe emphasized that at the meeting, health professionals and patient associations will discuss aspects related to the importance of health communication and the importance of citizens having more information to be able to better use medications.

“It is not enough to have access to medications, you need to know how to use them in order to achieve the best health results and that is where information plays a very important role”, he emphasized.

The interaction of users with the platform will also allow for the generation of more content and frequently asked questions, expanding the information repository available to everyone.

“There is already a set of information available”, which the population can access free of charge and directly, and at the same time, they can communicate with the Order of Pharmacists, posing questions, which will be answered appropriately and clearly by professionals.