India is the country with significant drug use problems. There is concern regarding the irrational production, prescription and use of drugs in India. There are many examples regarding irrational use of drugs in our country like, overuse of antibiotics and antidiarrheals for nonspecific childhood diarrhea, indiscriminate use of injections in children, polypharmacy in geriatric population, use of antibiotics for mild non-bacterial infection, tonics and multivitamins for malnutrition. Given that the vast majority of drug purchase costs are borne out of pocket, the ultimate burden of this irrational drug use falls entirely on the patient.
The prescribers, pharmacists, nurses and the patients are the four actors involved in drug use and some times lack basic and scientific drug information. Physicians frequently have inadequate information with new drugs/combinations; pharmacists often are not knowledgeable about the drugs they dispense; nurses do not know regarding the drugs they administer and similarly patients are often completely ignorant about the drugs they consume. The drug information from commercial sources requires careful evaluation. Pharma industry is a major sponsor of scientific conferences and symposia in which information to doctors often emphasizes only the positive aspects of products and over looks or gives little coverage to the negative aspects. Such information about drugs and drug promotion can greatly influence the way in which drugs are used.
Thus, drug information from commercial sources is very often biased and hence noncommercial, independent, unbiased source of drug information is important. Drug Information Centre (DIC) can be the unbiased, non-commercial and reliable source for pharmacists, drug regulators, doctors and the common man to obtain in-depth and focused drug information thus improving patient compliance and minimize irrational drug use. Drug information is also the basis for the development of tools like formularies and standard treatment guidelines essential for rational prescribing.
It is said by an expert “Information is the Best Prescription”. So if the prescriber is equipped with authentic updated information on medicines given by DICs then the prescribing habits will surely become rational and if consumer drug information also comes from DIC in a user friendly manner, then poor patient compliance, non adherence to treatments prescribed, self medication will be on decline. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been advocating promotion of rational drug use (RDU) and appropriate as well as rational use of medicines is likely to become the priority for health professionals, government and consumers in the years to come. Our DIC is already engaged in dissemination of updated unbiased drug information to drug regulators, pharmacists, doctors and common man and has realized through various queries received in past 5 years that all stake holders of medicines are much curious and hungry for right information and this is the right time to initiate imparting drug information, by pharmacists trained to run Drug Information services. Drug information is a fine-tuning channel for optimizing drug therapy. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has already recommended to the Government of India to set up computerized drug information centers in large hospitals for the benefit of all concerned.
