NEWS RELEASE

Day Lewis Pharmacy offers free blood pressure checks during Know your Numbers! Week

27 August 2008

Day Lewis Pharmacy will be providing free blood pressure checks from September 8-14 as part of the Blood Pressure Association’s Know your Numbers! Week.

The pharmacy group is urging local residents to have their blood pressure checked to see if they are at risk of high blood pressure.

120 Day Lewis pharmacies nationwide are taking part in the award-winning campaign run by UK charity the Blood Pressure Association.

16 million adults in the UK have high blood pressure (that’s one in three) but more than five million of them don't know it because the condition has no obvious symptoms.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure causes strokes, heart attack and heart failure, and can also lead to kidney disease and dementia. However, once detected, the condition can be successfully treated.

The Day Lewis Pharmacy Group is among 3,000 official ‘Pressure Stations’ being held in pharmacies, supermarkets, shopping centres, workplaces and a wide range of community venues offering free blood pressure checks across the UK during the charity’s event.

Peter Glover, Superintendent Pharmacist of the Day Lewis Pharmacy Group, said: “We are delighted to support the Blood Pressure Association’s campaign and play our part in helping to raise awareness of high blood pressure by highlighting to people that they are putting their health on the line through ignorance of this condition and its complications.

"We hope to see customers and local residents coming in for their free blood pressure checks during the event. And if you are already diagnosed with high blood pressure, our Day Lewis pharmacy teams can help to answer any questions about your medication - all essential to good blood pressure management."

Mike Rich, Executive Director of the Blood Pressure Association, said: “To raise awareness during this year’s campaign we are asking ‘Are you at risk from the ticking time bomb?’ Uncontrolled high blood pressure is like a hidden time bomb which can cause stroke, heart attack and heart failure.

“So take control and reduce your risk of the silent killer by having a free blood pressure check during Know your Numbers! Week. It's quick, free and painless and could save your life.”

To find out more about the campaign, or for a free blood pressure information pack, visit the Know your Numbers! website at www.bpassoc.org.uk/kyn or call 020 8772 4994. If you have a question about high blood pressure and would like to speak to someone over the phone, call the Blood Pressure Association’s Information Line on 0845 241 0989 (11am-3pm, Mon-Fri).

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• For more information on Know your Numbers! Week or on high blood pressure, contact the Blood Pressure Association’s Press Office on 020 8772 4993/4984, or email mgederon@sgul.ac.uk.
• For further information on Day Lewis Pharmacies, to arrange for your reporter to have their blood pressure checked, or for a photo or interview with Day Lewis pharmacies, please contact: Judy Viitanen at PRimage, 01727 874137; 07717 691845, or email judy@primage.org www.primage.org
• The Blood Pressure Association is the UK’s leading blood pressure charity working to lower the nation’s blood pressure. The charity provides information and support for people with high blood pressure and raises awareness to prevent the condition. The charity recently won the healthcare category of The Charity Awards 2008 for its work on the Know your Numbers! campaign. For more information visit the charity’s main website at www.bpassoc.org.uk, call head office on 020 8772 4994 or contact our information line on 0845 241 0989
• Day Lewis Pharmacies - ‘Caring for our local communities’
  1. Day Lewis Plc is the UK’s leading independent pharmacy multiple.
  2. Our retail strategy puts the pharmacist at the heart of healthcare within their local communities. Day Lewis pharmacy outlets are typically in community and secondary high street locations and have a strong emphasis on healthcare and advice.
  3. Following a particularly strong and consistent acquisition strategy over the past 5 years, including the recent successful acquisition from Alliance Boots of 31 stores, the Day Lewis Group now has 165 pharmacy outlets across the UK

Links:
What is KYN?
Facts & Figures
Press Office
KYN Homepage