Books and Reports

Below – on this page –  you will find descriptions of :
– Where There Are no Pharmacists (TWN 2019) (TWN 2010) – in English and French
Beverley Snell, Sarah Andersson, Kumariah Balasubramaniam
– ‘The Politics of Essential Drugs – The Making of a Successful Health Strategy: Lessons from Bangladesh’, published by Zed Press, London, 1995 – by Zafrullah Chowdhury
– Fast, Furious and Flexible: The story of Health Action International (HAI)
– Rational Use of Antibiotics in China (Workshop 2005 Report)
– Understanding and responding to pharmaceutical promotion: A practical guide. A manual prepared by HAI and WHO for training students and others how to respond to pharmaceutical promotion.
– Politics of Medicines Encyclopaedia
Health Action International (HAI) presents a first-of-its-kind, free, online encyclopaedia of the politics of medicines from the perspective of HAI’s expert network of consumer groups, non-governmental organisations, health care professionals, academics, media and individual partners in more than 70 countries.
– Essential Drugs Programs: The transformation of emergency management to a civilian program in Somalia. Beverley Snell 1996

New Edition: Where There Are No Pharmacists TWN 2019

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Here are the details:
Where There Are No Pharmacists 2^nd Edition 2019 
Prices:
– Developing countries: US$10 (excluding postage); $15 (with postage)
– Developed countries: $15 (excluding postage); $22.50 (with postage)
For orders of 10 copies or more, there can be a discount of 25%.  For really big orders, the price and cost of postage needs to be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Enquiries should be directed tothe general TWN address twn@twnetwork.org 

About the book
Where there are no trained pharmacists serving communities, other categories of health workers are called upon to order, buy, store, dispense and advise people on rational use of medicines. Where There Are No Pharmacists explains how to order them, store them, prepare them, dispense them and use them safely and effectively –  it is about managing medicines. Information to help communities benefit from the use of medicines is also included.
This book walks readers through each step, covering topics ranging from policy issues to patient education.  It provides guidance for anyone who is doing the work of a pharmacist; anyone who sells, dispenses, prepares, manages, or explains to others how to use medicines.
Where There Are No Pharmacists covers:

• The concept of National Medicines Policies
• Principles of selection: Therapeutics Committees, Treatment Guidelines, Standard Medicines Lists
• Procurement, stock management and supply: sources and prices, quantification, quality issues, storage and stock control
• The process of dispensing, and dispensing according to treatment guidelines
• Rational Use of Medicines
• Integrating vertical programs like IMCI, STI and HIV programs, Reproductive Health
• Explaining to patients and communities the role of medicines and how to use medicines safely
• For communities: Where There Are No Pharmacists contains information to help communities benefit from the use of medicines. It does not provide clinical advice but emphasizes the need to adhere to national standard treatment guidelines or, in their absence, toappropriate texts and guidelines. Whole communities can be empowered through empowering health workers.

This bookdoes not replace the need for qualified pharmacists; however, there are not enough pharmacists available to manage medicines in all places. The goal of Where There Are No Pharmacists is to fill this gap by increasing the number of health workers who:

• responsibly maintain a reliable supply of good quality, essential medicines
• manage medicines efficiently by carrying out activities in the best professional way
• accurately dispense medicines to the community with relevant information and
• continue to remain competent in their professional role as managers of medicines.

For ten years the first edition has assisted students, teachers and policy makers as well as health workers doing the work of pharmacists.  In addition, ordinary community members have been able to learn much about medicines affecting their lives. The book has proved to be clearly written and presented for people whose first language is not English – making it easy to translate the concepts into local languages.

 The second edition of Where There Are No Pharmacists includes expanded sections on:

• Antimicrobial resistance and the need for wise use of antimicrobial medicines.  The development of antibiotics was one of the most important advances of medicine. Now, because of the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, bacterial infections that were once easily cured with antibiotics are becoming harder to treat. This section includes practical strategies to help health workers manage antimicrobial medicines wisely in their community.
• Tuberculosis (TB)  TB has become much more difficult to treat because some TB bacteria have become resistant to the medicines previously used to treat TB. This expanded section includes more strategies to help community people understand TB and the best ways to cure the disease completely
• Medicines and older peopleNot all older people are frail but older people often suffer from a number of conditions and need several medicines at the same time to manage their conditions. Their treatment can become complicated and this new edition includes information to help the health workers, carers and the people themselves understand and manage their conditions.
• The use of zinc with oral rehydration salts (ORS) for diarrhoea in children  In children, ORS should be given together with zinc tablets. Zinc is a mineral in our body that is lost when we have diarrhoea. Zinc together with the ORS will help a child get better quickly and increase the child’s resistance so s/he will not catch diarrhoea again for the next two or three months. This section provides instructions on preparing ORS and zinc to give to a child with diarrhoea.
• Waste management  Guidelines are provided for having as little waste as possible and for safe disposal of any unavoidable waste.  Medical waste can be hazardous; if you do not dispose of it correctly, health personnel, waste handlers, and the community risk being seriously injured or infected.

The resource section has also been updated to facilitate access to the most useful resources.W

Several categories of health worker, whose activities involve managing and handling medicines, find themselves in front line healthcare either without any pharmacy training or, if they have, no opportunity at all for continuing their pharmacy education and professional development. Assessments in the field have led to repeated findings that there are severe deficiencies in the way medicines are managed and handled in the long chain from medical stores to rural health clinics and finally, to patients.
Knowledge associated with medicines and healthcare should not be a guarded secret among health professionals but freely shared by everyone. There is an increasing need to demystify medicines. People with little or no formal education can be trusted to grasp what is communicated if the communication tool is comprehensive. Where There Are No Pharmacists is such a tool.

A users guide for Where There Are no Pharmacists has been prepared by Fiji. You can download it here.
Exercises to assess readers’ understanding of the book can be downloaded here and the answers are here.

Where There are No Pharmacists: Available in French
Là où il n’y a pas de pharmaciens, the French translation of Where There are no Pharmacists is available from TWN. The text was translated by Elisabeth Goffin and Anke Meiburg of Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN), with the support of the German Institute for Medical Missions (DIFAM).  The book was prepared for publication by Beverley Snell (HAIAP) and Lean Ka-Min (TWN)

How to Order the Book   Visit our TWN Online Bookshop at: http://www.twnshop.com or contact Third World Network at 131 Jalan Macalister, 10400 Penang, Malaysia.
Website: www.twn.my
Tel: 604-2266159
Fax: 604-2264505
Email: Third World Network for further information:  twnkl(at)po.jaring.my

‘The Politics of Essential Drugs – The Making of a Successful Health Strategy: Lessons from Bangladesh’, published by Zed Press, London, 1995
Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury is widely regarded as the father of Bangladesh’s National  Drug Policy which pioneered a way through the maze of modern, Western-manufactured drugs and developed a more affordable health strategy based in part on the local manufacture of a relatively small number of essential generic drugs. With the World Health  Organization supporting the same approach, the Bangladesh experiment became influential in shaping other countries’ health policies.
His book The Politics of Essential Drugs – The Making of a Successful Health Strategy: Lessons from Bangladesh, published by Zed Press, London, 1995, tells the story of this initiative, including its achievements and limitations. He sets it in a global context, discusses the pressures mobilized (both now and at the time) by the pharmaceutical corporations and others to reverse the new strategy, and reflects on the relevance of Bangladesh’s experience for other countries.

Fast, Furious and Flexible: The story of Health Action International (HAI) with a focus on Health Action International Asia Pacific (HAIAP) 1981-2006

HAI 2006
To download the pdf click here

Rational Use of Antibiotics in China (Workshop 2005 Report)
The 2nd National Workshop on Rational Use of Antibiotics in China was held in Beijing from 28-30th November 2005. The workshop was organised by Professor Yong Hong Yang (Beijing Children’s Hospital), Dr Ken Harvey (Latrobe University, Australia) and Dr K Balasubramaniam (Health Action International Asia-Pacific). The meeting was sponsored by Health Action International Asia-Pacific and supported by the China Health Program of La Trobe University, the Australian National Prescribing Service and Medicare Australia.
To download the pdf click here

Understanding and responding to pharmaceutical promotion: A practical guide.
Pharmaceutical promotion influences how doctors and pharmacists choose to prescribe and dispense medicines. These decisions may, however, lead to sub-optimal treatment choices that damage public health and escalate health care costs.
Although the influence of pharmaceutical promotion starts early in medical and pharmacy students’ training, these students receive little to no instruction on how to assess promotion.
To address this need, HAI and WHO published a manual that schools of medicine and pharmacy can use to train students how to recognise and respond to pharmaceutical promotion before they start prescribing and dispensing medicines. This educational tool enables students to critically analyse pharmaceutical promotion and access higher-quality, unbiased and independent information about medicines.
The manual is available free-of-charge and can be downloaded in English,  French,  Spanish  or Russian. Hard copies of the manual (in English or Spanish) may also be requested by emailing manual(at)haiglobal.org .   Please note that shipping charges may apply.
Have you taught the manual, or used it as a student? Share your experience with us—and help us improve the next edition—by completing and submitting an evaluation form (English,  French  or Español).

Politics of Medicines Encyclopaedia
Health Action International (HAI) presents a first-of-its-kind, free, online encyclopaedia of the politics of medicines from the perspective of HAI’s expert network of consumer groups, non-governmental organisations, health care professionals, academics, media and individual partners in more than 70 countries. This project will become a comprehensive, easy-to-use and accessible resource for a broad audience that is engaged, or interested, in health advocacy, activism, civil society capacity building, or public health outcomes of the medicines market.
http://www.politicsofmedicines.org/

Essential Drugs Programs: The transformation of emergency management to a civilian program in Somalia
Beverley Snell 1996
Primary Health Care services including an Essential Drug Program, were established by the Somali Refugee Health Unit (RHU) in response to the emergency created by the arrival of more than one million refugees following the Ethiopia/Somalia war in 1977.  The RHU model was subsequently applied in the general community in Somalia.  This study explores the structure and activities of the RHU, in particular the Essential Drugs Program and examines the transformation of this model to the Somali community.  Main sources for the study were direct observation over a period of six years during employment in an action role in the two health programs in Somalia and comparison with health programs in other developing countries during the next nine years.  The study is set in context by examination of the history of Primary Health Care (PHC) and the concept of essential drugs and exploration of the developing role of the WHO.  Case studies of Bangladesh and Mozambique provide reference points.  The RHU program, based on trained Community Health Workers from the refugee community, initially called on both Somali and international professional staff.  Excess mortality and morbidity were controlled and preventive and curative health care, along with emergency response capacity were established.  In the longer term, the program was sustainable by Somali staff alone.  The success of the RHU program provided momentum for the introduction of a PHC program in the general community.  This thesis analyses the extent to which the RHU model was transferable, and identifies areas where adjustments were necessary.  Expansion and consolidation beyond the RHU model were achieved, but issues remained outstanding.  These issues were related to geographical, economic and political factors and included the difficulty of covering a dispersed population, the uncertainty of funding and absence of a National Drug Policy which would govern the import, distribution and use of pharmaceuticals throughout the country.  In conclusion, elements which can be disseminated in the wider context, including those related to essential drugs lists and standard treatment guidelines, are considered and several means of dissemination such as exchange through international forums and the WHO Drug Action Program are identified.

Full Thesis here