This study assessed the economic costs of irrational medicine use by Patent Medicine Dealers (PMDs) for malaria, acute respiratory infection (ARI) and diarrhea diseases (DD) in Nigeria. Exit interviews were conducted with 395 respondents who sought care for their children from 15 PMDs in Abakpa district of Enugu state Nigeria. Of the total respondents, 80.0% received treatment for malaria while...

I ho provision nl" essential drugs is onlv one element of a comprehensive primary heallh eare iPIK'i svsteni. Although Health Action International •:H\I:< \MHKS 11:.. s 11 \ iir'. drug related problems, a J^vs nui. Ivliovc lh.il fie provision ul drills is the most important element til" PHC\ hi fact, any mention nl the rational use of essential drugs is ivmarkabl} absent from (lie P>78 Alma Ata...

Infectious diseases cause the suffering of hundreds of millions of people, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Effective, affordable and easy-to-use medicines to fight these diseases are nearly absent. Although science and technology are sufficiently advanced to provide the necessary medicines, very few new drugs are being developed. However, drug discovery is not the major bottleneck...

SETTING Despite the prioritisation of TB, HIV and STI programmes in South Africa, service targets are not achieved, have had little effect, and the magnitude of the epidemics continues to escalate. Objective. To report on a participatory quality improvement intervention designed to evaluate these priority programmes in primary health care (PHC) clinics in a rural district in KwaZulu-Natal. ME...

This paper examines the community's perspectives and perceptions on quality of health care delivery in two Uganda districts. The paper addresses community concerns on service quality. It focuses on the poor because they are a vulnerable group and often bear a huge burden of disease. Community views were solicited and obtained using eight focus group discussions, six in-depth and 12 key informan...

OBJECTIVE Pharmaceutical assistance is essential in health care and a right of citizens according to Brazilian law and drug policies. The study purpose was to evaluate aspects of pharmaceutical assistance in public primary health care. METHODS A cross-sectional study using WHO drug indicators was carried out in Brasilia in 2001. From a random sample of 15 out of 62 centers thirty exiting pati...

ISBN 978 92 4 156348 2 The aim of this Consultative Meeting was to discuss strategies for improving the quality and quantity of therapeutic antisera, essential drugs for the effective treatment of suspected rabid dog bites and envenoming by snake bites and scorpion stings. Inadequacies in the effi cacy, safety and production of these antisera have created a major global public health crisis, es...

to see an international fund established to subsidize drug purchases and delivery systems in the poorest countries. In Norway this month (April) about 50 experts from around the world are meeting at a workshop organized by WHO and the WTO to discuss differential pricing as a means to ensure that the poor have access to essential drugs without undermining the international patents system — a sys...

helped individuals within the apartheid system to bring about change within their organizations as well as raising the awareness of the inequities of the apartheid system overseas. The National Medical and Dental Association was formed in 1982 by 1000 progressive doctors in South Africa and represents an alternative to the establishment Medical Association of South Africa. These progressive doc...

Revision of treatment regimens in Malawi Table 1 shows the regimens used in Malawi for new cases of TB. Having used thiacetazone for approximately 12 years, the Malawi National TB Programme removed it from its essential drug list in January 1997 and substituted ethambutol. Most paediatric cases of TB fall into the category of smear negative pulmonary TB. The proposed new regimen consists of a t...