Care of Yourself – Be Careful with Medicines!

The Head of the Girne American University (GAU) Pharmacology and Pharmacy Department Prof. Dr. Deniz Dincer has given a brief speech about the “Rational Drug Use” in the TV program she had participated in.

Dincer stated that throughout the world and in our country, improper and unneeded use of medicines is a serious problem impairing the public health and improper use of the drugs can cause diseases to become more critical, rather than curing them.

Dincer stressed that “Non-rational drug use causes drug interactions, resistance against some drugs, time elevation and recurrence of diseases, increase in adverse situations and increase of treatment costs and obstructs the treatment process of patients.”

Dincer also expressed that “Rational drug use holds a vital significance. From the moment the doctor prescribes a drug, we start to encounter some problems. For instance, along with the telephatical effects, drugs can also result in undesirable side-effects and inefficiency. The reason of these situations arises from the improper use of the drugs; we need to focus on giving the right drug to the right patient in an appropriate way.”

Dincer: “We are facing numerous and various problems in our country with relation to the improper, unneeded, ineffective and over-costing drug usage”

Use Medicines rationally!

Dincer referred that there are various problems we are facing in our country with relation to the factors such as improper, unneeded, ineffective and over-costing usage of medicines. She stated that the main problems determined are prescribing for drugs which are not suitable for drug lists or up to date guidelines, using/prescribing inappropriate drugs for special patient groups, prescribing/using over-costing drugs and antibiotics unnecessarily, doctors who do not inform patients regarding the treatment plans, not paying enough attention to the prescriptions including all necessary information, pharmacists who do not pay necessary attention to prescriptions, medications and not informing the patients, medical malpractice by the healthcare personnel, pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution which paves the way for wrong drug use. It was also underlined that these problems can arise from various infrastructure problems.

by Dr Deniz Dincer (source:Karmi News Agency)

Edited by Cyprus Observer