Evidence-based Pharmacy in Developing Countries - Rational Dispensing

Rational Dispensing

In situations where medicines are dispensed in small, screwed-up pieces of brown paper, the need for instructions to the patient takes on a whole new dimension. Medicines should always be issued in appropriate containers and labelled. While the patient may be unable to read, the next healthcare worker who seeks to help the patient it is probably literate. There are many tried-and-tested methods in the literature for using pictures and diagrams to aid patient compliance. Symbols such as a rising or setting sun to depict time of day have also been used, particularly for treatments where regular medication is important, such as cases of tuberculosis or leprosy.

Poverty may force patients to purchase one day's supply of medicines at a time, so it is important to ensure that antibiotics are used rationally and not just for one or two day's treatment. Often, poor patients need help from pharmacists to understand which are the most important medicines and to identify the prescribed items, typically vitamins, that can be missed in order to reduce the overall cost of the prescription to a more manageable level.