[indices] Challenges of drug information [4]

["valentine odili" <enitnelavtap@yahoo.co.uk>]

Hi,

I carried out a survey on the need for Drug information services in Nigerian hospitals. We sampled the opinions of Pharmacists, Doctors and Nurses. We discovered that most of these health professionals relied on tertiary sources of information as well as drug detailers from companies for drug information.They were very much open and interested receiving drug information services but not very enthusiastic about paying for such infomation.This was very much so for the doctors surveyed.Rhe reason for this is thought to be because these Doctors are used to getting free information about drugs from drug detailers with added incentives to prescribe such drugs.

But we believe that if drug information specialists (Pharmacists) are adequately trained to  man centres in hospitals under the funding of such hospitals the relevance of the services over time will become apparent and subsequently people will begin to pay for timely, unbiased, relevant drug information aimed at solving patient specific problems.


VALENTINE U ODILI
DEPT. OF CLINICAL PHARMACY & PHARMACY PRACTICE 
UNIVERSITY OF BENIN
EDO STATE, NIGERIA.