who medicines strategy - libdoc.who.int - World Health Organization

WHO MEDICINES STRATEGY 2004-2007 | 112WHO advocates 12 keyinterventions to promote morerational use:1 Establishment of amultidisciplinary national body tocoordinate policies on medicineuse2 Use of clinical guidelines3 Development and use of nationalessential medicines listIrrational use of medicines is a major problemworldwide. WHO estimates that more than halfof all medicines are prescribed, dispensed or soldinappropriately, and that half of all patients failto take them correctly. The overuse, underuse ormisuse of medicines results in wastage of scarceresources and widespread health hazards.Examples of irrational use of medicines include:> use of too many medicines per patient (‘polypharmacy’)> inappropriate use of antimicrobials, oftenin inadequate dosage, for non-bacterialinfections> over-use of injections when oral formulationswould be more appropriate> failure to prescribe in accordance withclinical guidelines> inappropriate self-medication, often ofprescription-only medicines> non-adherence to dosing regimes.4 Establishment of drug andtherapeutics committees in districtsand hospitals5 Inclusion of problem-basedpharmacotherapy training inundergraduate curricula6 Continuing in-service medicaleducation as a licensurerequirement7 Supervision, audit and feedback8 Use of independent information onmedicines9 Public education about medicines10 Avoidance of perverse financialincentives11 Use of appropriate and enforcedregulation12 Sufficient government expenditureto ensure availability of medicinesand staff.