Read this carefully

摘要

You can give the best medicine in the world, but if the patient does not understand how it should be taken then it can be useless, or even dangerous. Similarly, if a new mother can not read instructions on mixing formula, her baby will not thrive.These are just two examples of the consequences of poor health literacy - difficulty accessing, reading and applying information related to health.The message from a recent BMJ study (see box opposite) is that health literacy is an important issue not just for patients but for the health service too, because incorrectly used medicines waste money.