"It's probably harmless," you tell yourself. "It’s not like I have a life-threatening condition. I’m still young."

That was possibly what two persons in their 20s were thinking when they bought a product called Relacore online. It was marketed legitimately as a herbal slimming product, but contained a prescription slimming ingredient that exceeded the recommended levels and caused adverse drug reactions.

Slimming pills, sleeping pills, prescription cough medication — if one wishes to procure these without seeing a doctor, going online is not the only way.

It may not be that unusual to find a friend or family member who has some of these and is willing to pass one or two to you should you ask.

Or, a “Viagra” or two to make your erection last “longer and stronger” — as some young men are wont to do now even if they do not suffer from erectile dysfunction.

Whichever the way, or the drug, “buyer beware” has to be the watch phrase. This, in turn, means that public education on medication is necessary if people are to make informed choices, say doctors, drug makers and the health authorities.

Who, however, will be responsible for this outreach?

There have been suggestions that pharmaceutical companies, as manufacturers of the drugs, take the lead. But these companies have a commercial agenda, advertising guidelines notwithstanding.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA), while being the last word on such drugs, should not be tasked to helm the project either, given that they may be perceived as drug peddling.

Doctors, meanwhile, might be seen as wanting to protect their turf vis-à-vis self-medication.

Instead, the gap in public education is best filled in by a group that is often neglected: Pharmacists.

Long perceived as counter staff who dispense prescriptions, pharmacists have lamented that they are unappreciated for their five long years of training to be drug specialists.

With improved benefits and career development schemes rolled out recently, it can only be to the advantage of pharmacists to demonstrate their expertise in medication.

Between December 2006 and January last year, the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore teamed up with the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) to promote the use of cost-saving generic drugs.

Perhaps, pharmacists can team up yet again with Case in a synergistic move. Only with the two neutral parties involved can pharmaceuticals jump onto the bandwagon without the taint of bias.

Such a campaign could also address issues arising from the purchase of medication from neighbouring countries. While most medication bought from these countries are genuine, there is still a fair amount of fakes around.

In Indonesia, about a quarter of all medicine sales are fakes. In the Philippines, it is 30 per cent; in India, 20 per cent; in Cambodia,13 per cent; and in China, 8 per cent.

The situation online is more precarious. According to the World Health Organisation, more than half the pills sold online are fakes.

While the HSA Centre for Drug Administration has said that less than 1 per cent of the drugs that find their way here are fakes, there is really no way to know, especially since HSA allows, to some extent, the import of medication for personal consumption.

With Internet access so pervasive among Singapore households and spam email an everyday affair, there is a need to better educate the man on the street about medication, even if the pills are for a “lifestyle-oriented” purpose.

After all, like a doctor noted, if you see that email about “pleasing your woman better” often enough, you may actually be tempted to click on the “buy-it-now” link. - TODAY/sh