E-DRUG: Essential medicines require essential diagnostics (3)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The title 'Essential medicines require essential
diagnostics' is partly true. It is clear that
safe and effective use of medicines requires the
ability of the frontline healthcare professional
to diagnose correctly. But correct diagnosis
depends primarily on clinical skills and
knowledge to interpret symptoms and signs.
Diagnostic tests are a means for the clinician to
get further information on the patient to, for
example, confirm or refute a suspected diagnosis.
Also, diagnostic tests are a vital part of modern
medicine, but their use is not always (or even
mainly) related to essential medicines. We come
back to the basic complementary needs of every healthcare provider:
Skills
Equipment (including diagnostic tests)
Information
Structural support
Medicines
Incentives (including a decent salary)
Communication facilities.
This spells the acronym SEISMIC - a seismic shift
is needed to address the needs of front-line
healthcare providers in low-income countries. We
need to listen more to their needs - and to
measure progress in each of the seven areas.
Progress in these areas is the key to improving quality of health care.
Best wishes,
Neil
Member,
HIFA Project on Information for Prescribers and Users of Medicines
http://www.hifa.org/projects/prescribers-and-users-medicines
Neil Pakenham-Walsh <neil@hifa.org>