Pharmacy in Public Health (2011) by Janet Krska is intended to inform pharmacists in the United Kingdom but also those from other countries about public health and the opportunities that pharmacists have to shape public health policy and the health outcomes of their community. The book not only discusses what public health is and what can be done by pharmacists, but also discusses evidence-based outcomes of these services from pharmacies. Though this book evaluates the place of pharmacists in public health, it has a large focus on public health in the United Kingdom which cannot be translated directly to pharmacists of other countries due to differences in healthcare systems and different societal needs.

The author, Janet Krska, states in the preface for the book that her main goal is to help “support pharmacists in developing their public health skills” (1). Krska accomplishes this through a 284-page book that is broken into 3 sections that discuss what public health is, developing services in pharmacies, and improving public health through these services. These sections are further broken down into 14 chapters that range from 12 to 24 pages and further develop and support the 3 sections by delivering information in an informative manner that uses charts and figures to supplement the more difficult topics, such as public needs assessment and service development.

Krska devotes the first section to what public health is and supports this through the first 5 chapters (chapter 1 discusses public health in the UK; chapter 2, factors of health; chapter 3, role of pharmacy in public health; chapter 4, health data of different diseases in populations; and chapter 5, discusses international public health issues). Krska is able to clearly define public health and population needs and the role of the pharmacist in delivering services to meet these needs. While Krska effectively discusses the structure of public healthcare organization at different levels of government, Krska's discussion of international needs is weak, only covering 3 diseases in a few countries of Africa. Krska tries to also discuss opportunities for pharmacists volunteering in these developing nations but neglects to consider those nations that are already developed but have their own public health issues such as industrial waste and pollutants.

The second section of the book is devoted to the development of service to promote public health. Again this section is supported by 5 chapters (chapter 6 discusses public needs assessment and involvement; chapter 7, delivery of evidence-based medicine; chapter 8, different healthcare professions working together to promote health; chapter 9, developing services in pharmacies to meet public needs; and chapter 10, risk and benefits of human behaviors). While Krska again uses data that is more relevant to the UK, both in chapter 6 and chapter 7, the section as a whole is of high quality and supplemented with charts and figures to convey topics that can be easily followed in a logical manner when pharmacists attempt to develop their own public health projects. The author not only develops risk and benefits assessment of human behaviors, but also gives suggestions on how to interact with the public and convey how these health changes will impact them in a positive manner.

The last section is devoted to how pharmacy can improve public health and is supported by 4 chapters. Topics cover a range of areas from opportunities for pharmacists to educate the public to health screenings, with each chapter devoted to one aspect of improvement (chapter 11 discusses education of the public; chapter 12, protection of the populations health; chapter 13, prevention of disease through screening the public; and chapter 14, medicine management). This section of the book is the best presented and is relevant to pharmacists including the international community of pharmacy. Krska elaborates on how to educate the community in a positive way and on a level that is easily understood. She also discusses protection of the public through preventative measures such as immunizations to certain diseases. Krska further develops the notion of creating services for the public, eg, screening the population for known diseases present within the population. In the final chapter Krska discusses the management of medicines and includes prescribing cost-effective medicines as well as controlling drug products and their safety. While this section is generally well developed, the last chapter on medicine management consists of several different topics and as a result is not as well elaborated on as the rest of the book. Either the chapter should have been expanded or possibly broken in to 2 chapters—one consisting of government duties to ensure proper management, such as drug efficacy and purity, and a separate chapter consisting of what pharmacists could manage, such as cost effectiveness and proper medication use in the population.

In this book, Krska acknowledges the need for public health initiatives and presents not only opportunities for pharmacists to assist in these programs but also suggests how to initiate programs that are specific to pharmacy practice and can promote the population's health. Krska's 3 main sections are sufficient and well developed to support her major goal of discussing public health but data presented tends to have a focus on the United Kingdom and countries that used to be part of the British Empire. While these countries may represent different areas of the world, their governments tend to resemble that of the present United Kingdom and therefore may not be initiated elsewhere in the same way due to differing government structures and regulations on healthcare. However, this does not override the merits of the book in providing suggestions on how to interact with local and national populations to improve public health and ensure prevention, and should be seen as a case study of public health which can be adapted to other national governments and pharmacies around the world. Overall, this book is easily understood and presents information in a logical manner that readers can adapt to better the public health of their community, region, and nation.

• © 2011 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy