BACKGROUND Equitable access to essential medicines is a major challenge for policy-makers world-wide, including Central and Eastern European countries. Member States of the European Union situated in Central and Eastern Europe have publicly funded pharmaceutical reimbursement systems that should promote accessibility and affordability of, at least essential medicines. However, there is no knowl...

OBJECTIVE To characterize the medicine dispensing services in the primary health care network in Brazil and in its different regions, aiming to promote the access and rational use of medicines. METHODS This is a cross-sectional, quantitative study with data obtained from the Pesquisa Nacional sobre Acesso, Utilização e Uso Racional de Medicamentos (PNAUM - National Survey on Access, Use and P...

PURPOSE There is limited information on pediatric prescribing in Sierra Leone. This study evaluated prescribing patterns for under-five patients at Ola During Children's Hospital (ODCH) and assessed the extent of rational prescribing. METHODS A descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective study of 294 prescriptions, selected by systematic random sampling was conducted at the outpatient departm...

BACKGROUND The use of herbal medicines is on the increase globally and they are usually supplied in pharmacies as non-prescription medicines. Pharmacists are, therefore, responsible for educating and informing the consumers about rational use of herbal medicines. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the knowledge of pharmacists in Lagos, Nigeria with regards to the herbal medicines they supplied by their ph...