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

WHO MEDICINES STRATEGY 2004-2007 | 128EO 7.9Identification and promotion ofcost-effective strategies to promoterational use of medicinesRationaleSince irrational use of medicines is not limitedto one area of the health sector, strategiesshould be designed to cover the public andprivate sectors and to target self-medication andprescribing habits. What is needed is a majorshift in the knowledge and behavioural patternsof both individuals and social groups, includinghouseholds, communities, health professionals,educational institutions, and industry. In view ofthe financial constraints, there is a need to identifyand target priority areas. From a health economicsperspective, these areas should be those whichare expected to yield the largest improvement insocial benefit (or reduction of unnecessary socialcosts) for the money invested. 68ProgressWHO, in collaboration with partners includingMSH and the Universities of Harvard and Bostonin the United States, has supported more than20 intervention research projects in developingcountries, aimed at providers and consumers,hospitals, primary health care and the community,and private and public sectors. Technical supportfor these has included supervisory visits as wellas workshops for proposal development and dataanalysis. A policy perspective paper outlining corecomponents of a national strategy to promoterational use of medicines was published in2002. 69 WHO is also developing a quantitativedatabase of all medicine use studies from 1993onwards in order to assess global progress inpromoting rational use of medicines. In addition,WHO has supported INRUD and associatedtraining programmes. A major advance was thefirst francophone course on promoting rationaluse of medicine, conducted in Rwanda in 2003.This will be replicated in 2004 and followed upwith field activities.