January’s cultural and identity-linked celebrations and awareness days include:
Consider the relevance of these events to your own pharmacy practice. We’ve shared some useful information below where appropriate.
Each year, January is the focus of a global effort to encourage people across the world to try vegan food. Veganuary is a non-profit organisation that since launching in 2014 has persuaded millions of people to take on a plant-based diet. Pharmacy professionals should, of course, be proficient in delivering advice about a person’s diet, and they should be particularly able to explain the medical aspects of a vegan diet. This could include possible nutritional deficiencies and the use of supplements (the British Dietetic Association has guidance on this). Pharmacy professional should also be able to flag where animal products may be involved in medicines and their production. This ScienceDirect report offers some interesting insights on the topic.
More than 3,200 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the UK every year. Women are invited for screening every three to five years, but current NHS England figures show that more than five million women are not up-to-date with their routine check-ups. NHS England is aiming to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, and to help reach that target, screening is to become fully digitised – from next Spring, invitations will be sent via the NHS App. Pharmacy professionals have a key role to play here by spotting the potential signs and symptoms, and encouraging women to go for their screenings.
World Braille Day, celebrated since 2019, is observed to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication for blind and partially sighted people. It’s a good time to reconsider your practice – how well prepared are you to support the needs of blind and partially sighted people in terms of the facilities you offer and how you communicate with them? The Specialist Pharmacy Service has compiled advice and tips to help improve your service for people with sight or partial sight loss. It includes having magnifying glasses available, using large labels with larger fonts or with a suitable high-contrast background, and using a special Braille labeller and even audio labellers. The X-PIL service can also provide patient information leaflets in large/clear print, in braille and on audio CD.
January sees a number of commemorations and celebrations. Pharmacy professionals should be aware of these occasions and how they are marked – team members may ask for annual leave, and colleagues and visitors to pharmacies alike will appreciate personal greetings.
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival – and Lunar New Year, among other East and Southeast Asian communities with longstanding ethnic Chinese populations or cultural connections. It is celebrated on the first new moon of the Chinese lunar calendar. This year it falls on 29 January, marking the end of the Year of the Dragon and the arrival of the Year of the Snake.
There are family reunions, feasts, and various cultural traditions such as lion dances, fireworks and the giving of red envelopes filled with money. The festival lasts 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival.
Celebratory feasts can, of course, give food for thought for people who want to celebrate but must be careful with their food and drink intake, such as those with diabetes who must monitor their blood sugar. As a pharmacy professional you could be in a position to support those people around this time. This blog post offers some useful advice, top tips and recipes for just that scenario.
Mahayana New Year
Mahayana is one of the two major streams of Buddhism, and practitioners believe that any individual – not just monks – can achieve enlightenment at any point in their lives. Some celebrate the new year on 31 December or 1 January like the rest of the world, but others mark it on the first full moon of the year which is 13-14 January in 2025. For Buddhists it is a time of reflection, prayers, songs and the lighting of candles, followed by feasts of sweet food and fireworks.
Lailat al Miraj
This is one of the Islamic calendar’s most important dates. It commemorates the point at which, according to the Quran, the Prophet Muhammed was flown to heaven by a winged steed and returned with the instruction that Muslims should pray five times a day. Those celebrating will do so with prayers either privately at home or at a mosque, followed by food and sometimes the lighting of candles.
Lohri Maghi
The winter festival of Lohri is thought to mark the passing of the winter solstice, the end of the winter and the welcome of longer days to come. It is celebrated with bonfires, gift-giving and festive food. It comes one day before Maghi, which Hindus see as a day of ritual bathing in ponds and rivers, followed by the eating of traditional food – both celebrations are linked. For Sikhs, Maghi is seen as a gathering to commemorate the martyrdom of 40 Sikhs said to have died fighting Mughal Empire forces in 1705.
Asarah B’Tevet
This day is marked by fasting from daybreak to nightfall, and is in mourning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylonia, which according to the Hebrew Bible began on 10 January (10th day of the Hebrew month of Tevet), 589BC.
To learn more about implications of fasting for people with health conditions, pregnancy, etc during this time, the Times of Israel offers this guidance.
Housekeeping
This monthly article covers significant dates in the six major faiths in the UK. We acknowledge that the calendar does not include every possible significant event, celebration and observance day. If you would like to contribute a few words on an event in the calendar or suggest an event that it does not cover, please contact sneha.varia@cppe.ac.uk.
