Community pharmacies are well positioned to act as health and wellness hubs. The majority of community pharmacies are open six days a week, with a significant proportion opening seven days a week, and have extended daily opening hours. Approximately 50 per cent of the population lives within 1km of a community pharmacy, and 85 per cent of the population lives within 5km of a community pharmacy. Community pharmacy has long supported and participated in campaigns enhancing access to existing public health services such as screening services, and health promotions initiatives such as the HSE Making Every Contact Count (MECC) programme. By empowering individuals and communities, pharmacies drive better health outcomes and enhance overall wellbeing. In recognition of this, the Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025 (CPA25) outlines how pharmacists and their teams will increase awareness of, and engagement with, health promotion initiatives.  

Upcoming campaigns

During the coming months, community pharmacies will collaborate with HSE Health and Wellbeing (HSE H&W) in promoting the following public health campaigns:

• Pregnancy and Alcohol (April 2026);
• Men’s Health week (June 2026); and
• Autum Winter Vaccination Programme 2026/27 (Autumn/Winter).

Pharmacists and their teams will be supporting the public with verbal advice, signposting to additional resources and referral to other services or healthcare professionals where appropriate. Applying the Making Every Contact Count (MEEC) principle approach, when suitable, will further support the public in their health journey and enhance the overall experience.  

Support material

Ahead of the commencement of each campaign, the HSE H&W will facilitate a webinar offering background and campaign specific guidance along with additional training material for the pharmacy team. The recording of this webinar will be made available through different HSE platforms and the IPU website. Public facing printed and digital assets will also be supplied. Pharmacies will be required to display campaign materials for the full duration of the campaign. Campaign materials may include:

• Printed posters and leaflets, which will be available to order two weeks prior to the commencement of each campaign through healthpromotion.ie; and
• Digital assets, suitable for in-pharmacy screens and social media, which will be made available through partner packs.

The first campaign, Pregnancy and Alcohol, is scheduled to launch on Monday, 13 April 2026.  

IPU support

The IPU is committed to fully supporting HSE H&W in the rollout of these national health campaigns. The IPU will assist by disseminating all relevant information, training resources and promotional materials to community pharmacies through different channels. In addition, the health promotion messaging will be communicated on IPU’s public facing channels (for example, social media, website etc).  

Campaign survey and evaluation

At the conclusion of each campaign, the HSE will conduct a survey to evaluate impact and outcomes. Community pharmacies will be requested to complete and submit these surveys. For ongoing updates about campaign delivery, please follow the IPU weekly newsletter and visit our website for the latest information.