(NAPSA)—Surprisingly, the most vulnerable time during a natural disaster often comes after it has occurred, say the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They recommend you begin with a plan to recover that includes disease prevention—and starts before the disaster occurs. For onething, it helps to keep a list of all your medications, what they’re for and when you should take them. In addition, try to keep your medicine, eyeglasses and other health care supplies easily available in case of an evacuation. Another source of help can be disaster managers who try to makesure patients have access to needed prescription medicines. Knowing that pharmacies havereopened and that needed medicines are reaching patients and disaster relief sites helps communities to recover quickly. That’s why the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), in partnership with pharmacies, pharmacists, hos- pitals, generic drugmakers and other health care organizations, developed RxResponse. It helps ensure that pharmaceutical supplies are available after a natural disaster, pandemic or terrorist attack. One importantservice it provides is an Internet-based pharmacy status reporting tool that lets disaster managers and the public know which pharmacies are open and functioning after a disaster hits. After an emergency,it’s important to know where to get needed medicine. A community-minded coalition can help. The program also offers a free wallet card that you can use to print up list of your most important medications to take with you in case of an emergency evacuation. “Partnering with industry and associations on programs like RxResponse brings new capabilities to our nation in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies and medicaldisasters,” said Dr. Kevin Yeskey, deputy assistant secretary and director of the Office of Preparedness and Emergency Operations at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “RxResponse is unique in providing nationwide visibility into the pharmaceutical supply chain when every minute counts.” For more information on RxResponse, visit www.RxResponse.org. For more information on PhRMA, visit www.Phrma.org.
