Evidence-based Pharmacy in Developing Countries - Evidence-based Pharmacy Practice

Evidence-based Pharmacy Practice

While modern practices, including the development of clinical pharmacy, are important, many basic issues await significant change in developing countries.

• Medicines can often be found stored together in pharmacological groups rather than in alphabetical order by type.
• Fridge space is often inadequate and refrigerators unreliable.
• There are different challenges, such as ensuring that termites do not consume the outer packages and labels or that storage is free of other vermin such as rats.
• Dispensary packaging and labelling can be woefully inadequate and patients leave with little or no understanding of how to take medicines which may have cost them at least one week's earnings.
• Medicines are often out of stock, not just for a few hours but for days or even weeks, particularly at the end of the financial year.
• Protocols and standard operating procedures are rarely found.
• Even when graduate pharmacists are employed, they often have little opportunity to perform above the level of salesperson, simply issuing medicines and collecting payment. For example, several hospital pharmacies in Mumbai, India, are open 24 hours per day for 365 days per year but only to function as retail outlets selling medicines to outpatients or to relatives of inpatients who then hand over the medicines to the nursing staff for administration.