School Pharmacist/School Environmental Hygienic Activities at School Site

The "School Health and Safety Act" was enforced in April 2009 in Japan, and "school environmental health standards" were established by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In Article 24 of the Enforcement Regulations, the duties of the school pharmacist have been clarified; school pharmacists have charged with promoting health activities in schools and carrying out complete and regular checks based on the "school environmental health standards" in order to protect the health of students and staff. In supported of this, the school pharmacist group of Japan Pharmaceutical Association has created and distributed digital video discs (DVDs) on "check methods of school environmental health standards" as support material. We use the DVD to ensure the basic issues that school pharmacists deal with, such as objectives, criteria, and methods for each item to be checked, advice, and post-measures. We conduct various workshops and classes, and set up Q&A committees so that inquiries from members are answered with the help of such activities. In addition, school pharmacists try to improve the knowledge of the school staff on environmental hygiene during their in-service training. They also conduct "drug abuse prevention classes" at school and seek to improve knowledge and recognition of drugs, including "dangerous drugs".