Rational use of drugs Rational drug use Principles






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Rational use of drugs

Rational drug use Principles for rational drug use: 1. Appropriate drug to be prescribed 2. Taken in right dose 3. Taken at the right intervals 4. Administered by the right route of administration 5. It should be effective 6. Of acceptable quality 7. Safe (high therapeutic index) 8. Available when needed 9. At affordable price

Irrationality of drug use Causes: 1. Polypharmacy: high number of drugs on each prescription 2. Patient compliance : low patient compliance (20 -50%) indicates poor communication between prescriber and patient 3. Low income of patient pushes the pharmacist towards dispensing doses for one or two days only 4. Incomplete pharmaceutical information about drugs 5. Low bioavailability medication 6. Incorrect prescribing (e. g. low efficacy drugs, or given at unsuitable circumstances and wrongly given antibiotics) 7. Self medication: (patients do not know the mode of drug action, length of treatment, side effects) 8. Availability of numerous medicinal alternatives

Essential drug list q. Definition: A list of basic and most important drugs which are therapeutically effective, safe and satisfy patients need. q. The list differ from country to country depending on: 1. Type of prevailing diseases 2. Type of health care personnel available 3. Financial resources 4. Genetic factors 5. Demographic factors 6. Environmental factors

Guidelines for establishing an essential drug list: Statistical data about common diseases A survey about the healthcare centres and their budgets Drugs with accurate scientific data must be available Hospital formularies should be developed and used as a reference for the essential drug list 5. Selected drugs should meet the standards of quality, bioavailability and bioequivalence tests 6. Drugs pharmacokinetics, drug-drug interactions and adverse dug reactions must be available for each drug in the list 1. 2. 3. 4.

Characteristics of essential drug list Consistent with the pattern of prevalent diseases Simple drugs (combinations should be avoided) Common drugs with universal relevance Indicates priorities in drug needs Contain available, low price, proper dosage medication 6) Flexible enough to meet changes in health needs 7) Drugs should be written in generic names associated with a drug information sheet 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)