The NHS has launched a campaign highlighting how high-street pharmacies can support patients with non-urgent health advice for minor conditions, such as coughs, aches and colds.

The news comes as recent polling found that only one in five people aged 18-40 would visit their local pharmacy first for expert advice for a minor illness.

The Help Us Help You adverts will run across catch-up TV services, online video, radio and social media. The 'movie-inspired' ads will dramatise minor illnesses and highlight the clinical advice, support and over-the-counter medicines that local pharmacists can offer to help problems before they get worse.

Titles include ‘Earache strikes back’, ‘sore throat and the lost voice’, and ‘night of the itchy eye’.

Chief pharmaceutical officer, David Webb, said: “Community pharmacies are right in the heart of local communities, and with pharmacists fully trained clinical professionals, they are the perfect place for anybody suffering from a minor illness to get expert advice.

“Pharmacies can offer the convenience of turn up on the day consultations and can help you get any care needed including over-the-counter-medicines. So whether suffering from a cough, earache, itchy eye, or any other minor illness, popping into your local pharmacy is a great way to nip an issue in the bud before it potentially worsens.”

Image by Renate Köppel from Pixabay