Resources

Accounting for 74% of all deaths globally and with those suffering from conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, or other chronic conditions numbering in the billions around the world, NCDs have gained worldwide prominence in public health discussions over the past few decades. This paper looks to provide evidence that self-care is a key practice in supporting healthcare systems to better prevent and manage NCDs.

Self-care literacy refers to the knowledge, motivation and competencies of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, and maintain health and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider. This Policy Brief addresses the for integrated self-care policy approach involving multiple actors, settings, and sectors with the purpose of creating conducive environments in support of health and well-being of individuals and communities.

This CHPA’s report presents findings from its 2022 Over-The-Counter (OTC) Value Study, once again showing that self-care with OTC medicines not only benefits individuals but also benefits the entire healthcare system. This year’s study found that on average, every dollar spent on OTC medicines saves the U.S. healthcare system $7.33, resulting in an overall annual savings of $167.1 billion.

The aim of this paper is to lay out the five key principles, as seen by Bayer Consumer Health (BCH), of science-led self-care solutions. For each principle, the paper presents the rationale to validate its position as a critical piece of science-led self-care, supported by proprietary research and analyses undertaken internally at BCH alongside external data (such as insights from HCPs and consumers).

The non-prescriptions medicines industry is committed to improving health outcomes by providing information on product safety and improving access, and literacy amongst consumers. It is important that consumers are provided with medicinal product information that is reliable, understandable and in an easy-to-access format. GSCF’s new paper on ‘Delivering Information to Consumers Through E-Labelling’ outlines some of the key considerations to be taken into account for future systems concerning on e-label/e-product information.

At the start of WHO’s International Self-Care month on 24th June, GSCF is proud to launch its Global Social and Economic Value of Self-Care study demonstrating that current self-care practices deliver significant economic savings and quality of life improvements. This is the first global research project analysing the worldwide value and impact of self-care, across 155 countries. Importantly, it is the first study to include data from low- and middle-income countries, providing a unique global perspective.

This bank of case studies provides a sample of member company examples within the field of health data.

This document outlines GSCF’s future vision where the potential of self-care health data to improve health outcomes is fully realized and shares the guiding principles that member companies adhere to.

Self-care and the data it generates offer numerous benefits that extend from the individual to the whole community. However, there are still a number of barriers preventing self-care health data from being used as efficiently as possible to generate the most value for consumers and society. GSCF’s policy position paper outlines our future vision and policy priorities to enable required to develop an effective policy environment for self-care health data to one that enables individuals and society to harness all its benefits.

This policy brief introduces the concept of self-care literacy as a sub-domain of health literacy. Applied in the context of self-care, self-care literacy refers to the knowledge, motivation and competencies of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, and maintain health and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider. It also aims to present and promote self-care literacy as a health policy priority and to engage with stakeholders with a shared interest in health literacy.