Pharmacy Awareness is an annual event organised by the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The event was held online from the 15th of April 2022 until the 30th of April 2022 via Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, the Youtube account of Pharmacy Awareness and the Cisco Webex Meeting application. The aim of Pharmacy Awareness is to raise public awareness about the safety and effectiveness of self-medication by providing the correct ways of medication handling and disposal of unused medicines. Besides, Pharmacy Awareness also explains the role of pharmacists in educating and helping the public with self-medication, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, the theme of Pharmacy Awareness was “Know Your Medicine”. Pharmacy Awareness 2022 was held in two phases, the first phase focused on the promotion and introduction of the program to the public while the second phase was about the main campaign. A series of five Educational Pharmacy Awareness Video Production was released and a closing ceremony was held during the second phase.
During the first phase of the event, three games were conducted which include “Online Mini Game Competition”, “Pharmtag Giveaway” and “Open TikTok Challenge”. The “Online Mini Game Competition” was held on the 23rd of April 2022, consisting of fun and engaging games. One of them was a treasure hunt based on the event’s theme to incorporate awareness as well as competitiveness among the participants. Besides, the “Pharmtag Giveaway” was held from the 15th of April 2022 until the 26th of April 2022. This giveaway was conducted to gain exposure and recognition from the public about Pharmacy Awareness via a filter effect which included the logo of the event. In addition, the “Open TikTok Challenge” was held from the 15th of April 2022 until the 24th of April 2022. This challenge was able to create awareness among the participants and their followers on certain pharmacy-related topics through the creative TikTok videos. Hence, a wide variety of people could be reached through the participants.
During the second phase of the event, five creative educational videos which were tailored for the society were produced and uploaded on the social media accounts of Pharmacy Awareness 2022 from the 25th of April 2022 until the 29th of April 2022. The five-video series helped educate the public to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of their medication. These videos also taught people about the theme “Know Your Medicine” while incorporating important points such as the 5R of medicine, medication safety, storage of medicine and disposal of medicine. The closing ceremony of Pharmacy Awareness 2022 was held on the 30th of April 2022. During the closing ceremony, all the winners of the games held during phase 1 of the event were announced. A video montage of Pharmacy Awareness 2022 and a compilation video of the Open TikTok Challenge were also shown during the closing ceremony. Lastly, the closing ceremony ended with a photography session.
Written by: Kam Rui Jia
