University hospital-based drug information service in a developing country

Abstract

In 1994, a clinically oriented drug information unit was established at the Tribhuvan University Teaching hospital in Nepal, with a view to providing objective and independent information through a question-answer service and bulletin production. During the first 2 years of its service, the unit received a total of 674 encounters, with an average of 28 inquiries a month (range 13-42): about three-quarters (74.5%) of all the inquiries were from prescribing doctors, including 38.0% from specialist clinicians: about a quarter (24.6%) were related to patient problems. Most (86.8%) of the responses were provided within 24 h of the inquiry. Frequently encountered queries related to: pharmacotherapy of a disease or drug indication(s), adverse drug reactions, drug doses, availability, drug use in pregnancy, ingredient(s) of a proprietary product, precautions for use and drug interactions. Details of the inquiries received and the responses provided by the unit are documented in a standard question-answer form. The unit also carries out proactive dissemination of information through the publication and free distribution of a bimonthly bulletin which includes brief referenced reviews on drug- and therapeutics-related topics. Nepal- or the local situation-related write-ups are now being increasingly included in the bulletin. A users' survey carried out at the end of 1-year service indicated that the question-answer and bulletin production activities of the unit were well-perceived by its target audiences, i.e. the prescribing doctors and postgraduate medical students. Although Medline on CD-ROM and original journal articles available in the hospital library were consulted for answering a few of the questions, the vast majority of them could be adequately handled by consulting a limited number of well-known drug information books. Our experience indicates that in developing countries such as Nepal, where funds are often severely limited, a small-scale drug information centre, serving a local area, can be usefully initiated by a few motivated staff with a modest collection of about a dozen key reference books.

<p>Overview, Challenges and Future Prospects of Drug Information Services in Nepal: A Reflective Commentary</p>

“…The center has been engaged in creating public awareness about proper drug use by developing and distributing research-based printed materials like information leaflets, pamphlets, and booklets to the general public. [16][17][18][19] In 1996, Drug Information Network of Nepal (DINoN) was established with the objective of providing high-quality DI and given responsibility for developing and disseminating unambiguous medication information on appropriate use, contraindications, possible ADRs, drug standards, efficacy, and toxicity. 5,16 DINoN had a total of nine members, five founders, and four ordinary members.…”

“…54 Absence of required funding and financial support lead to the unavailability of sufficient human resources in the DIC, ultimately hindering the quality of the services being provided. 18 Making knowledge and practice about DI service mandatory in undergraduate, and postgraduate syllabus of pharmacy and pharmacology might be useful. 21 A proper search of the medication information and judgmental evaluation of scientific literature is only possible in the presence of competent pharmacists and clinical pharmacologists in the DICs.…”

“…This, in turn, can ultimately result in poor patient health outcomes when the query is meant for patient care thereby highlighting the need for quality service from DIC. 6,18 Quality assurance is also a key challenge. The performance of DIC should be regularly monitored by the concerned authority in the hospital as well as community settings and should be compared to a good standard.…”

“…57,58 Conducting a survey on the DI services among the receivers of the service can also give an idea of the quality of the service. 18 Formulation and implementation of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) can promote the quality of DI service. 58 The DIC should be accepted within hospital settings as the drug information providers.…”

National Drug Information Center Services through Ministry of Health Hotline Calling Center (937) in Saudi Arabia

“…The first drug information center was founded in the world and located in United Sate of America (USA) at begging of the 1960s, and in the United Kingdom in 1977 [1,2], the services expanded over years in the USA and other countries [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. In Saudi Arabia, the first drug information center was established at King Saud University college of pharmacy in early 1978 [14], then in late 1980s King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) and King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) had established drug information and poisoning information center [15,16].The first drug and poisoning information center at MOH was founded in 1989 at very public 500 beds-hospital King Saud Medical City previously known as " Riyadh Central Hospital".…”