Other documents in the DAP Research Series
N°. 1 |
Injection practices research |
N°. 2 |
How to investigate drug use in communities (available also in French) |
N°. 3 |
Operational research on the rational use of drugs |
N°. 4 |
Development of indicators for monitoring national drug policies |
N°. 5 |
People’s perception and use of drugs in Zimbabwe |
N°. 6 |
Operational research in the Action Programme on Essential Drugs: Report of an informal consultation |
N°. 7 |
How to investigate drug use in health facilities: Selected drug use indicators (available also in French and Spanish) |
N°. 8 |
Stability of injectable oxytocics in tropical climates: Results of field surveys and simulation studies on ergometrine, methylergometrine and oxytocin |
N°. 9 |
Prescription des antibiotiques dans trois pays d’Afrique de I’Ouest Mauritanie, Niger et Sénégal |
N°. 10 |
Self-medication and its impact on essential drugs schemes in Nepal |
N°. 11 |
Injection practices: A case study in Thailand |
N°. 12 |
Stability of oral oxytocics in tropical climates |
N°. 13 |
Stability of essential drugs in tropical climates: Zimbabwe |
N°. 14 |
Injection practices: A case study of Uganda |
N°. 15 |
Community health workers and drugs: A case study of Thailand |
DAP Research Series No. 16
In 1981 WHO’s Action Programme on Essential Drugs was established to provide operational support to countries in the development of national drug policies based on essential drugs and to work towards the rational use of drugs.
The Programme seeks to ensure that all people, wherever they may be, are able to obtain the drugs they need at a price that they and their country can afford; that these drugs are safe, effective and of good quality; and that they are prescribed and used rationally.
Research analysing the impediments to developing and managing sound national drug policies and programmes is an important element of country support activities. The Programme undertakes and promotes operational research aimed at filling some of the many gaps in existing knowledge about the best means of selecting, procuring and distributing drugs, and their use by prescribers and consumers.
This document is part of a series reporting on Action Programme research activities and guidelines.
Research that leads to breakthroughs in pharmaceutical technology or in highly sophisticated and expensive techniques of biomedical practice may superficially appear to be more “glamorous”. But the operational research that WHO’s Action Programme on Essential Drugs undertakes has a direct bearing on the ways in which vital medicines can be made available and accessible to the greatest number of people.
Action Programme on Essential Drugs, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland