Drug prescription habits in public and private health facilities in 2 provinces in South Africa
SOURCE: Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2010
TITLE AUTHOR(S): G.Mohlala, K.Peltzer, N.Phaswana-Mafuya, S.Ramlagan
KEYWORDS: DRUG USE, MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS, PRESCRIPTION DRUGS, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC HOSPITALS
DEPARTMENT: Public Health, Societies and Belonging (HSC)
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 6262
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/4472
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/4472
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2010
TITLE AUTHOR(S): G.Mohlala, K.Peltzer, N.Phaswana-Mafuya, S.Ramlagan
KEYWORDS: DRUG USE, MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS, PRESCRIPTION DRUGS, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC HOSPITALS
DEPARTMENT: Public Health, Societies and Belonging (HSC)
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 6262
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/4472
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/4472
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore drug prescription habits using WHO standard indicators in 15 public hospitals and 36 private surgeries in 2 provinces in South Africa. A high mean number of drugs were prescribed per patient (3.2 versus 2.8) in public hospitals and by general practitioners (GPs) respectively and generic prescribing rates were low (45.2% versus 24.5%). The rates of prescribing in public hospitals and by GPs were 8.3% versus 23.3% for injections, 68.1% versus 31.9% for antibiotics and 92.6% versus 68.5% for drugs from the essential drugs list. Drug prescribing in both sectors needs to be regulated, especially the use of antibiotics, essential drugs and generic prescribing.-
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