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Rx Label Enable: American Foundation for the Blind Calls for Accessible Medication Labels

In today's society, medications—both over the counter and prescription—are an important factor in maintaining health.  However, the print on medication labels and package inserts is typically very small, posing a serious health threat to the 20 million, and growing, Americans experiencing significant vision loss. To address this critical public health issue, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has embarked on the Rx Label Enable (afb.org/label) campaign to ensure that people with vision loss have ready access to the vital information available to all consumers via prescription labeling and related documentation, enabling them to take medications safely, effectively and independently.

For individuals with vision loss, not being able to read medication labels and related information is a particularly dangerous problem. Currently, people with vision loss must rely on memory, use compensatory strategies or devices, or depend on someone else for help. As a result, many people with vision loss and older adults with reduced visual acuity are unable to "access" important instructions for use and safety information from prescription labels and Consumer Medication Information. Through the campaign, we are encouraging individuals with vision loss and their families to complete an online survey telling us about problems they are having with identifying their medications. We plan to use this information to bring about needed policy changes in medication labeling standards.

There are essentially no federal guidelines for pharmacists to follow in making prescription labels accessible.  As part of the Rx Label Enable Campaign, AFB teamed up with the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists Foundation (ASCP) to develop the "Guidelines for Prescription Labeling and Consumer Medication Information for Persons with Vision Loss."

The Guidelines provide pharmacists and pharmacies with specific format recommendations for making important medication information accessible to patients with vision loss and will serve as a resource for persons with vision loss and organizations serving this population. They also contain suggestions for making information accessible to people for whom larger print is not useful and general information on assistive technology, resources, and services that pharmacists and pharmacies can share with their patients with vision loss.