Book Review (Spotlight Weekly)

Drug Use And Health Care

The book provides essential information about drug use for different levels of health care

By A CORRESPONDENT

Till a few years ago, it was very difficult to get any information regarding the use of drugs in Nepal for health care but the situation has changed now. Thanks to the INRUD-Nepal, a group of medical experts, the information on the use of essential drugs in Nepal are published annually.

With a very new history of use of modern medicines and health facilities, compilation of the use of medicine is not an easy task. One of the main handicaps of collecting information is that it is virtually impossible to visit and monitor the free flow of all kinds of drug in the southern parts of the country.

"Though the history of health development in Nepal goes back to about five decades only, during this span of period several land marks have been achieved, such as, skilled health human resource development; establishment of health manpower development institutions within the country; setting up of primary, secondary and tertiary level health facilities all over the country in public sector; growth of private sector during last decade in the areas of health; induction of important public health programmers, participation of external donor partners in health etc," said Dr. B.D. Chataut, Director General of Department of Health Services. "There is no single document to provide objective information related to drug use in Nepal. This publication "District Drug Use and Health Profile", prepared by INRUD, Nepal provides essential information about drug use for different level of health care including private sector at the district level.

Published in 2002, the District Drug Use and Health Profile is a first of its kind book, which provides the name list of drugs used in Nepal. "The document has been extensively revised and updated: appendices including information on health facilities and manpower, health service utilization, child health indicators, family health indicators, core drug use indicators, treatment practices for diarrhea, ARI and pregnancy have been revised and new abstracts have been added," said Professor Kafle. "We believe that this document will be more easy to use compared to the previous edition."

The profile includes general demographic and ecological information: articles on drug use and abstracts on drug use studies; information regarding health institutions and manpower; immunization status, safe motherhood program coverage, utilization of general health services, incidence and prevalence of malaria, Kala-azar and others.

The book also includes the number of hospitals and retailers of medical supply. Thanks to the hard efforts by the group of medical experts, the book provides accurate and updated statistics of health related matters.

"Veracious information is not only vital for the evaluation of undertaken processes but also is pivotal for future planning and decision-making. Therefore, the need for the comprehensive, initiative and scientific information system that is integrated to shed light on different areas of health sector and is also easily accessible, has been felt for long," said professor Kafle. "The publication is made possible due to the regular efforts from many individuals."

The book provides detailed information about the use of drugs in different parts of the country and its demand. The National Drug Policy 1991 also aims at ensuring availability of safe, effective and quality drugs at affordable price to the people.

District Drug Use and Health Profile 2004
Published by: International Network for Rational Use of Drugs Nepal (INRUD-Nepal), Phone 4473536, Baneswor, Kathmandu
Edited by: Professor Kumud Kumar Kafle, MBBS, MD and et el
Price: Rs. 200.00; US$ 5
Pages: 76