PHM-Exch> Meeting the information needs of prescribers and users of medicines

[Claudio Schuftan]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Neil Pakenham-Walsh, UK <neil.pakenham-walsh at ghi-net.org>
Date: Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 11:40 PM
Subject: [afro-nets] HIFA 2013 Challenge: Meeting the information needs of
prescribers and users of medicines
To: afro-nets at healthnet.org
Cc: atai.okokon at gtc.ox.ac.uk


Dear AFRO-Nets members,

Each year HIFA (Healthcare Information For All) includes a focus on a
specific group of healthcare providers. In previous years, we have looked
at students (2008-), nurses and midwives (2009), community health workers
(2010-) and citizens, parents, children and families (2011/12-). On behalf
of the HIFA Steering Group, we are delighted to announce the focus of the
HIFA 2013-15 Challenge: Meeting the information needs of prescribers and
users of medicines. We have created a new page on the HIFA website for this
purpose:

http://www.hifa2015.org/2013-15-challenge-prescribers-and-users-of-medicines/

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Access to reliable, unbiased information on medicines is fundamental to
health care. Prescribers and users often lack such information, especially
in low-resource settings. Some have no information at all, or the
information that they do have is commercially biased. As a result,
countless people suffer harm, and sometimes death, as a result of
prescribing errors such as the wrong medicine, or the wrong dose.
Furthermore, irrational prescribing promotes the emergence of drug
resistance. Countless people are already dying from multi-drug resistant
tuberculosis and other drug-resistant strains that have emerged largely
because of irrational prescribing. There is a real and growing threat to
the human species from new microbes that are resistant to all known
treatments.

Rational use of medicines can be defined as: "patients receive medications
appropriate to their clinical needs, in doses that meet their own
individual requirements, for an adequate period of time, and at the lowest
cost to them and their community".
http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/rational_use/en/index.html

"Irrational use of medicines is a major problem worldwide. WHO estimates
that more than half of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed or sold
inappropriately, and that half of all patients fail to take them correctly.
The overuse, underuse or misuse of medicines results in wastage of scarce
resources and widespread health hazards. Examples of irrational use of
medicines include: use of too many medicines per patient ("poly-pharmacy");
inappropriate use of antimicrobials, often in inadequate dosage, for
non-bacterial infections; over-use of injections when oral formulations
would be more appropriate; failure to prescribe in accordance with clinical
guidelines; inappropriate self-medication, often of prescription-only
medicines; non-adherence to dosing regimes."
http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/rational_use/en/index.html

As WHO has proclaimed: "Appropriate use of antibiotics [and other
medicines] is only possible if healthcare workers and the public have
access to reliable, unbiased information on medicines. Universal access to
reliable information on medicines is readily achievable and should be a
cornerstone of efforts to promote rational prescribing. There is an urgent
need for concerted action."
http://www.who.int/rhem/didyouknow/essential_medicines/rational_antibiotic_use/en/index.html


WHAT WE CAN DO

Our vision is that every prescriber and user of medicines will have access
to the information and knowledge they need to use medicines effectively.

We are bringing together a working-group of HIFA volunteers to take this
forward. The group will:
- promote discussion on HIFA2015 around relevant issues, including drivers
and barriers to the availability and use of reliable information on
medicines
- promote discussion on issues that are particularly relevant to different
groups of (1) prescribers and (2) users
- harness insights and perspectives from HIFA members and incorporate these
into the HIFA Knowledge Base (currently in development).

We also seek to define, with the HIFA membership at large, at least one
SMART Goal that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and
Time-bound.

This goal might be very specific and achievable within a short time span.
For example, we may seek to persuade a publisher to make a vital
publication freely available to all. Or it may be more ambitious, and
require a longer effort. Or indeed, we may do both.

WHO WILL LEAD THE 2013-2015 CHALLENGE?

Atai Okokon will lead the HIFA 2013-2015 Challenge with support from HIFA
coordinator Neil Pakenham-Walsh and the HIFA Steering Group. Atai is a
pharmacist with a passion for the availability and use of reliable
information on medicines. She trained in Nigeria, and is currently doing a
Masters in Global Health at the University of Oxford.

We invite all HIFA members with an interest to join the HIFA 2013 Challenge
team to contact Atai at: atai.okokon at gtc.ox.ac.uk    Please note that all
volunteers will need to be proactive and make themselves available for
regular skype meetings.

We look forward to working with you.

Best wishes,

Atai Okokon and Neil Pakenham-Walsh
On behalf of the HIFA Steering Group
http://www.hifa2015.org/about/administration/
mailto:neil.pakenham-walsh at ghi-net.org

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