Interventions to promote more responsible use of medicines

WHO advocates 12 key interventions to promote more responsible use of medicines:

  • establishment of a multidisciplinary national body to coordinate policies on medicine use
  • use of clinical guidelines
  • development and use of national essential medicines list
  • establishment of drug and therapeutics committees in districts and hospitals
  • inclusion of problem-based pharmacotherapy training in undergraduate curricula
  • continuing in-service medical education as a licensure requirement
  • supervision, audit and feedback
  • use of independent information on medicines
  • public education about medicines
  • avoidance of perverse financial incentives
  • use of appropriate and enforced regulation
  • sufficient government expenditure to ensure availability of medicines and staff.
The pursuit of responsible use of medicines: sharing and learning from country experiences