The antibacterial paradox: essential drugs, effectiveness, and cost.
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The concept proposed by WHO of an essential drugs list that should comprise drugs corresponding to the health needs of the majority of the people has been embraced by countries, which have adapted it to their needs. In this study, the essential antibacterial drug lists of 16 countries chosen from the six WHO regions are reviewed. Most of these countries include 73% of WHO-recommended essential antibacterials on their lists. However, most are lacking reserve antibacterials, and even some main list antibacterials, which are essential when empirical therapy fails in cases of bacterial resistance. Many factors that may be responsible for the lack of selection of these drugs, not least cost considerations, are discussed. (+info)
Essential drugs in the new international economic environment.
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Recent global developments in the regulation of trade and intellectual property rights threaten to hinder the access of populations in developing countries to essential drugs. The authors argue for state intervention in the health and pharmaceutical markets in order to guarantee equitable access to these products. (+info)
Shared care: a qualitative study of GPs' and hospital doctors' views on prescribing specialist medicines.
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BACKGROUND: Shared care schemes have mainly centred on chronic diseases, such as asthma and diabetes. However, with increasing government emphasis on primary and secondary care integration and the effects of budget restraints, general practitioners (GPs) have been asked to take on the prescribing of specialist medicines. AIM: To elicit the views and experiences of GPs and hospital doctors about existing arrangements for shared care applied to the prescribing of specialist medicines. To identify a set of quality indicators for prescribing specialist medicines at the interface between primary and secondary care. DESIGN OF STUDY: A qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews. SETTING: Forty-eight GPs and 13 hospital doctors in the former South Thames region. METHOD: The interviews focused on how far experiences with shared care compare with the arrangements currently in place for prescribing specialist medicines and identified the barriers to facilitators of effective shared care. RESULTS: A number of key themes were identified and these formed the basis for eight quality indicators relating to the prescribing of specialist medicines where treatment is shared between primary and secondary care. The themes centred around issues of clinical responsibility, 'cost-shifting', availability of medicines, GP satisfaction, and the nature of the prescribing relationship. CONCLUSION: Overall, GPs appeared dissatisfied with arrangements for prescribing specialist medicines, while hospital doctors were generally satisfied. The quality indicators will form the basis of a more extensive quantitative survey of GPs' perceptions of the arrangements for prescribing specialist medicines. (+info)
Counting the costs: comparing depot medroxyprogesterone acetate and norethisterone oenanthate utilisation patterns in South Africa.
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BACKGROUND: In South Africa, where health care resources are limited, it is important to ensure that drugs provision and use is rational. The Essential Drug List includes depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) and norethisterone oenanthate (NET-EN) as injectable progestagen-only contraceptives (IPCs), and both products are extensively used. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: Utilisation patterns of the injectable contraceptive products DMPA and NET-EN are compared in the context of current knowledge of the safety and efficacy of these agents. Utilisation patterns were analysed by means of a Pareto (ABC) analysis of IPCs issued from 4 South African provincial pharmaceutical depots over 3 financial years. A case study from rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is used to examine utilisation patterns and self-reported side effects experienced by 187 women using IPCs. RESULTS: IPCs accounted for a substantial share of total state expenditure on drugs. While more DMPA than NET-EN was issued, NET-EN distribution from 2 depots increased over the 3-year period. Since DMPA was cheaper, if all NET-EN clients in the 1999/2000 financial year (annualised) had used DMPA, the 4 depots could have saved 4.95 million South African Rands on product acquisition costs alone. The KZN case study showed slightly more NET-EN (54%) than DMPA (46%) use; no significant differences in self-reported side effects; and that younger women were more likely to use NET-EN than DMPA (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Providing IPCs on the basis of age is not appropriate or cost effective. Rational use of these products should include consideration of the cost of prescribing one over another. (+info)
Chronic respiratory diseases in developing countries: the burden and strategies for prevention and management.
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In developing countries, chronic respiratory diseases represent a challenge to public health because of their frequency, severity, projected trends, and economic impact. Health care planners, for example, are faced with a dramatic increase in tobacco use and must establish priorities for the allocation of limited resources. Nevertheless, smoking prevention and standardized management programmes for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should be implemented in developing countries whenever possible. International measures will be required to reverse tobacco smoking trends, and international agencies could define essential drugs and equipment and encourage the use of generic drugs, particularly for corticosteroids inhaled at high dosages. For such programmes to be effective, producers of high-quality generics will need to be identified, and the medications added to national lists of essential drugs and included in procurement procedures. Other recommendations for alleviating the burden of chronic respiratory diseases in developing countries are: adapting guidelines to local contexts and ensuring their distribution; upgrading equipment at district level; purchasing high-quality drugs at low prices; routine training and supervision of health services personnel; and regular monitoring of performance. Social mobilization by professional societies, nongovernmental organizations, and the mass media will also increase government commitment to tobacco control and standardized case management. (+info)
Introductory note: The access to Essential Medicines Campaign.
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To ensure access to essential medicines for disadvantaged populations there are at least three conditions to be met: drugs prices must be affordable for poor countries; research and development of drugs for tropical diseases must take place; and there is a need for health exceptions to trade agreements. (+info)
Controlling multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and access to expensive drugs: a rational framework.
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The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), i.e. involving resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, could threaten the control of TB globally. Controversy has emerged about the best way of confronting MDR-TB in settings with very limited resources. In 1999, the World Health Organization (WHO) created a working group on DOTS-Plus, an initiative exploring the programmatic feasibility and cost-effectiveness of treating MDR-TB in low-income and middle-income countries, in order to consider the management of MDR-TB under programme conditions. The challenges of implementation have proved more daunting than those of access to second-line drugs, the prices of which are dropping. Using data from the WHO/International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease surveillance project, we have grouped countries according to the proportion of TB patients completing treatment successfully and the level of MDR-TB among previously untreated patients. The resulting matrix provides a reasonable framework for deciding whether to use second-line drugs in a national programme. Countries in which the treatment success rate, i.e. the proportion of new patients who complete the scheduled treatment, irrespective of whether bacteriological cure is documented, is below 70% should give the highest priority to introducing or improving DOTS, the five-point TB control strategy recommended by WHO and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. A poorly functioning programme can create MDR-TB much faster than it can be treated, even if unlimited resources are available. There is no single prescription for controlling MDR-TB but the various tools available should be applied wisely. Firstly, good DOTS and infection control; then appropriate use of second-line drug treatment. The interval between the two depends on the local context and resources. As funds are allocated to treat MDR-TB, human and financial resources should be increased to expand DOTS worldwide. (+info)
Prescription habits of dispensing and non-dispensing doctors in Zimbabwe.
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The number of dispensing doctors has increased in the last decade, but the implication of this trend on the quality of health care and drug use is unknown. We present a comparative drug utilization study of 29 dispensing doctors and 28 non-dispensing doctors in Zimbabwe based on standard indicators developed by the World Health Organization. Dispensing doctors prescribed significantly more drugs per patient than non-dispensing doctors (2.3 versus 1.7), injected more patients (28.4% versus 9.5%), and prescribed more antibiotics (0.72 versus 0.54) and mixtures (0.43 versus 0.25) per encounter. Dispensing doctors also spent significantly less time on each encounter (8.7 min versus 13.0 min) than their non-dispensing colleagues. The use of generic name, brand name and essential drugs did not differ significantly between the two groups of practitioners. Multivariate analyses controlling for gender, race, place of education, location of practice and patients seen per day showed that dispensing by doctors was associated with less clinically and economically appropriate prescribing. These findings suggest that the quality of health care--as related to drug use, patient safety and treatment cost--is lower with dispensing doctors than with non-dispensing doctors. (+info)