KEY POINTS:
A trial project has been making parents more aware of the dangers of paracetamol poisoning in young children after it emerged that around 500 children a year under five are reportedly overdosing on the drug.
The results of the Taranaki project, which will be presented at the Injury Prevention Network conference in Napier today, have resulted in a shift of parental attitudes towards storing paracetamol, which has largely been regarded as a "safe" drug.
The National Poisons Centre receives around 1000 calls a year about paracetamol poisoning - around half of those involving children under five. In large amounts, paracetamol can cause long-term liver damage.
But the Taranaki project, a collaboration between the Taranaki district health board and Pinnacle Taranaki Primary Health Organisation, has had good results in changing parental attitudes.
Project coordinator Emma Hope said most people considered paracetamol, which is given to children as a liquid, to be a safe drug.
"You can purchase it in supermarkets so it doesn't seem to be as dangerous a medication. People weren't quite as cautious as they perhaps should be when they were dosing children."
As a result, there was a misconception about its storage in the house.
"They thought that paracetamol had to be kept in the fridge or were just keeping it in the bottom cupboards. We've actually heard quite a few stories of young children under five who were medicating themselves from the fridge. Mum had given them paracetamol when they couldn't sleep, so when they couldn't sleep themselves they'd just go to the fridge and get themselves some."
Parents who attended one of five of the PHO's practices were given a checklist with specific dosage instructions, and information on safe storage and dosage. They were also provided with a cupboard latch.
Ms Hope said follow up surveys of a sampling of the 128 parents found all the parents had found the information useful, and 62 per cent had changed their storage habits.
The project had initially been run at two practices by the Kidsafe Taranaki Trust in 2004, before being taken up by the Taranaki DHB on behalf of Kidsafe. At the time, Taranaki had paracetamol poisoning rates among young children that were higher than the national average, although those figures have declined.
Pinnacle PHO have pledged to expand the programme to more practices and continue with it for at least another three years.
Ms Hope said they were now looking at expanding the programme to pharmacies as well.
