Approved national release 27th April 01

Manners in Britain have slid down into the depths with the news that 43% of the general public now think that belching in public places, such as restaurants, cinemas and on public transport is acceptable. The statistic comes from a new survey, released today by the Consumer Health Information Centre (CHIC), as part of a wider campaign to raise awareness of indigestion, its prevention and treatment.

The survey also revealed that one in five people (22%) don’t know how to recognise the symptoms of indigestion, although only 13% claim to have never suffered from it; while a massive 18% think that heartburn is caused by eating food that is too hot.

“Indigestion is something that most people experience from time to time,” says Dr. Sohail Butt, Committee Member of the Primary Care Society for Gastroenterology and advisor to CHIC. “Even though indigestion can make you feel very uncomfortable, many people find it difficult to recognise their symptoms or understand how they might be triggered.”

To help reduce the confusion, CHIC has produced a new free consumer leaflet, “A guide to treating the symptoms of indigestion”, which outlines the causes of indigestion, ways of avoiding it, and the different types of OTC remedies that are available to treat it. It carries the Plain English Campaign’s Crystal Mark for clarity, and has been endorsed by the Doctor Patient Partnership, the National Pharmaceutical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.

Readers can obtain copies of the FREE leaflet by writing to: Consumer Health Information Centre, PO Box 16382, London, WC1A 2QB , telephoning 020 7404 7842 or by clicking here.

• The Consumer Health Information Centre (CHIC) was established in 1997 after research conducted by the OTC industry showed that consumers lacked the confidence to self medicate when they had a minor ailment. CHIC aims to help provide the public with clear, simple and reliable information about different types of minor ailments, to help people identify their symptoms and know how to treat them effectively and safely.
• The information CHIC provides is prepared by an Advisory Panel of independent experts, including GPs, nurses, pharmacists and patient representatives.
• CHIC is administrated through the Proprietary Association of Great Britain, and works closely with the National Pharmaceutical Association, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, the Doctor Patient Partnership and the Royal College of Nursing to gain endorsement for the information it produces.
• For further details of OTC remedies and patient support groups, look online at www.medicinechestonline.co.uk

The survey was carried out by NOP Solutions on 1001 people aged 15 years or over and using a quota sample (30th March – 1 April 2001). The sample was designed to be representative of all adults in telephone owning households in Great Britain.