Rational Use of Medicines and Other Health Technologies

The promotion of rational use of medicines through policies, structures, information, and education includes national body to coordinate policies on medicine use; evidence-based clinical guidelines for training, supervision and supporting decision-making; lists of essential medicines used for medicine procurement and insurance reimbursement; medicines and therapeutics committees in districts and hospitals to monitor and implement interventions to improve the use of medicines; continuing medical education; independent and unbiased information about medicines for health personnel and consumers; elimination of financial incentives that lead to improper prescribing; regulations to ensure that promotional activities meet ethical criteria; and adequate funding to ensure availability of medicines and health personnel.

Fact sheet

The promotion of rational use of medicines through policies, structures, information and education includes:

A national body to coordinate policies on medicine use
Evidence-based clinical guidelines for training, supervision and supporting decision-making
Lists of essential medicines for medicine procurement and insurance reimbursement
Medicines and therapeutics committees in districts and hospitals to monitor and implement interventions to improve the use of medicines
Continuing medical education
Independent and unbiased information about medicines for health personnel and consumers
Elimination of financial incentives that lead to improper prescribing
Regulations to ensure that promotional activities meet ethical criteria
Adequate funding to ensure availability of medicines and health personnel.

Observatory (Regional Platform on Access and Innovation for Health Technologies)

Essential medicines [Global Health Observatory)

Medical devices (Global Health Observatory)

Line of action

Essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority health care needs of the population. They are selected with due regard to public health relevance, evidence on efficacy and safety, and comparative cost-effectiveness.

Essential medicines are intended to be available within the context of functioning health systems at all times in adequate amounts, in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality and adequate information, and at a price the individual and the community can afford.

Scientific and Technical Material

Medicine Lists

Other materials

Material from External Partners

Rational Prescription

Guía de la buena prescripción (only in Spanish)
Curso "Uso racional de medicamentos" REMEDIAR (only in Spanish)

The World Health Organization (WHO) implemented a strategy on medicines and established Ethical Criteria for Medicinal Drug Promotion, which supports and promotes public health protection through the rational use of medicines.

In view of the influence that promoting, advertising, and publicizing medicines has on those who take them and on their consumption patterns, as well as the subsequent impact on health systems and the harmful health outcomes that this can produce both individually and collectively, it has become necessary to improve, expand, and define ethical criteria to strengthen public health protection and safety concerning the risks associated with the use of medicines.

Within this framework, it is especially necessary to raise awareness and protect the most vulnerable segments of the population, such as children, the elderly, pregnant women, and the chronically ill.

In its regulatory activities related to promoting, publicizing, and advertising medicines, it is recommended that the Pan American Network for Medicine Regulatory Harmonization (PANDRH) members be guided by the Ethical Criteria supported by and consistent with those already established by the World Health Organization, taking their own national policies and legislation into consideration.

Scientific and Technical Material

Ethical Criteria for Promoting, Advertising, and Publicizing Pharmaceuticals

Strategic Partners

Information Resources

Pharmaceutical education throughout the Americas is responsible for preparing students to begin the practice of pharmacy as vital members of the health care team with all the required skills and knowledge.

The Pharmaceutical Conferences on Pharmaceutical Education have been held since 1990 to promote the collaboration among Colleges, Schools, and Departments of Pharmacy in the Americas.

Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education (PCFE)

The PCFE has been held since 1990, with the participation of delegates from the Region of the Americas, to promote cooperation among pharmacy schools in the Americas.

- X Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education, October 25-27, Antigua, Guatemala, 2016

- IX Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education, 2014

- VIII Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education (PCFE), 2012

Conference Agenda (only in Spanish)

- VII Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education, Puerto Alegre, 2010: Conference Agenda

- VI Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education, Montevideo, Uruguay 2008:

V Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education, Miami, USA 2002

IV Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education, Santiago, Chile 1999

III Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1996

II Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education, Guerrero, Mexico 1993

I Pan American Conference on Pharmaceutical Education, Miami, USA 1990

Scientific and Technical Material

Links of Interest

WHO defines Pharmacovigilance as the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other possible drug-related problems.

Scientific and Technical Material

WHO Pharmacovigilance Indicators: A Practical Manual for the Assessment of Pharmacovigilance Systems - 2015
R eporting and Learning Systems for Medication Errors - 2014
A practical handbook on the pharmacovigilance of medicines used in the treatment of tuberculosis - 2012
Successful Experiences in the Management of adherence to antiretroviral treatment in Latin America - 2011 (only in Spanish)
Good Pharmacovigilance Practices for the Americas- 2010 (only in Spanish)
A practical handbook on the pharmacovigilance of antiretroviral medicines - 2009 (WHO)
A practical handbook on the pharmacovigilance of antimalarial medicines - 2007 (WHO)
Pharmacovigilance for antiretrovirals in resource-poor countries - 2007 (WHO)
The Safety of Medicines in Public Health Programmes: Pharmacovigilance an essential tool - 2006 (WHO)
The Importance of Pharmacovigilance - 2002 (WHO)

Links of Interest

PAHO/WHO

Incorrect use of medicines occurs in all countries, causing harm to people and wasting resources.

Communication Materials

In the Americas, during the II Pan American Conference on Drug Regulatory Harmonization (1999) a panel discussion was held on medicines counterfeiting during which the WHO guidelines to combat drug counterfeiting were presented and it was concluded that:

Falsification of medicine is a problem that exists in varying degrees in most of the countries of the region and in some countries, strong measures have been taken to reduce the problem;
The guidelines for the development of the fight against counterfeit drugs is a good tool that can be used by the countries;
Most of the countries lack up-to-date legislation that would make it possible to address this crime and enforce exemplary penalties;
Addressing the problem requires that the health authorities coordinate their actions with the police and judicial authorities and with producers and distributors, and the uncontrolled proliferation of distribution channels and pharmacies in some countries can affect the existence of this crime.