Queen's honour for rheumatologist well deserved

The Guild welcomes the recognition of a leading New Zealand rheumatologist, Peter Gow, in the Queen’s Birthday list for his long standing contribution to health research and public education.

Prof Peter Gow has been an important adviser to the Pharmacy Guild’s demonstration project in Counties Manukau to improve the recognition and treatment of gout, a debilitating arthritic condition.

Prof Gow who is Associate Professor of Rheumatology working at the Counties Manukau District Health Board was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit at the weekend.

“Prof Gow is committed to his patients as well as the wider health picture,” said Pharmacy Guild chief executive Annabel Young. “”He has been an integral contributor to the design of the Guild’s gout project ensuring that it could be effectively rolled out in pharmacies.”

“He saw straight away a role for pharmacies in identifying patients who were not taking their medication and also in advising patients who were seeking pain relief for undiagnosed gout symptoms.”

Ms Young says the Pharmacy Guild was very appreciative of the considerable time Prof Gow spent working with the Guild. “We asked for his help and he generously gave us his time and experience to make the project work.”

The Pharmacy Guild’s gout project was developed in consultation with key groups already working in gout management and prevention, including Arthritis NZ, Counties Manukau DHB and Middlemore Hospital.

The project which was launched in March attempts to identify and fill gaps in existing programmes without duplicating existing effort.

ENDS
Media contact: Annabel Young - 027 440 9160 or 04 802 8201

Notes
• Gout is a type of arthritis and causes sudden attacks of pain in some joints.
• There are significant numbers of people with Gout that is unrecognised and untreated.
• Gout is especially prevalent in Maori and Pacific Island men.
• Gout occurs when there is too much uric acid in the blood that can form crystals in deposit in the joints.
• The Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand (Inc) is a national membership organisation representing community pharmacy owners.
• We provide leadership on all issues affecting the sector and we advocate for the business interests of community pharmacy.
• For more information on the Guild and community pharmacy, please go to www.pgnz.org.nz.