Drug Supply and Use : Towards a Rational Policy in India

Contents: Preface. I. The Indian Drug Tragedy: 1. Drugs and health in India. 2. Profits versus health. 3. Irrational drugs production in India. 4. Irrational drug use by doctors. 5. Lobbying for a rational drug policy. 6. What can be done? II. Drug supply and use in Satara District: 7. How did we conduct prescription audit? 8. How good are doctors' prescriptions? 9. Irrational; and hazardous drug use. 10. Which doctor to choose? 11. Why doctors prescribe irrationally. 12. Do nurses know enough about medicines?. 13. Financial wastage due to irrational prescriptions. 14. Private prescriptions in public clinics. 15. Poverty amidst adequacy. 16. Need versus supply of drugs. Appendices. Bibliography. Index.

"While India has achieved near self-sufficiency in the production of a whole range of drugs, a majority of the drug formulations are irrational and lead to a wastage of financial resources. As a result, people have to spend many times the amount actually required in order to obtain rational drug treatment, thus depriving the poor, in particular, from getting the drugs they really need. This unique book combines the perspective of scientific drug therapy (rational therapeutics) with a pro-people one in critically examining India's drug policy since Independence.

"In part of the book, Dr. Anant Phadke analyses the production pattern of drugs in India, the issue of the predominance of irrational drug formulations, and the role of both the drug industry and doctors in this irrationality. The work of the Rational Drug Policy Movement, which lobbies policy-makers to formulate a more rational drug policy, is also discussed. Part II is based on a three-year intensive study of the supply and use of drugs in a district of Maharashtra.

"Among the notable features of this pioneering study are:

It constitutes the first district-level study in India of both the supply and use of drugs.

Provides a systematic study of doctors' prescriptions.

Contains the first reliable district-level estimate of drug needs.

Explores the knowledge that nurses have about the drugs they administer.

"Focusing on the rationality of drug production at the national level, and based on an in-depth and comprehensive study of the supply and use of pharmaceuticals at the district level, this book provides critical insights which will generate considerable debate on an appropriate health policy in India. It will interest scholars and students in such fields as medical sociology, health economics and policy, pharmacology, medical sciences as also professionals in the pharmaceuticals industry, and journalists covering issues of health development in India."