# \[e-drug\] HIFA working group on Information for Prescribers and Users of Medicines: we need your input

**URL:** <https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-hifa-working-group-on-information-for-prescribers-and-users-of-medicines-we-need-your-input/43583>\
**Category:** e-drug\
**Created:** [April 26, 2017, 9:42am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-hifa-working-group-on-information-for-prescribers-and-users-of-medicines-we-need-your-input/43583 "2017-04-26T09:42:01Z")\
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**Author:** ![Neil\_Pakenham-Walsh1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ec9cab/32.png) [@Neil\_Pakenham-Walsh1](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/Neil_Pakenham-Walsh1)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 9:42am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-hifa-working-group-on-information-for-prescribers-and-users-of-medicines-we-need-your-input/43583/1 "2017-04-26T09:42:01Z")

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E-DRUG: HIFA working group on Information for Prescribers and Users  
of Medicines: we need your input  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HIFA working group on Information for Prescribers and Users  
of Medicines: we need your input

Dear e-drug colleagues,

The HIFA working group on Information for Prescribers and Users of  
Medicines is undertaking a scoping review of literature on six themes  
relating to our shared vision (a world where every prescriber and user of  
medicines will have access to independent, reliable, understandable  
information on the full range of commonly prescribed medicines ­ and will  
know where to find it).

The six themes are:  
(1) The information sources used for prescribing in Low and Middle Income  
Countries (LMICs);  
(2) Information sources for consumers in LMICs;  
(3) How medicines information is accessed in LMICs  
(4) The consequences of prescribing with either no information or  
biased/inaccurate information;  
(5) The benefits / usefulness of different sources of information on  
medicines;  
(6) Practical aspects of compiling a drug formulary.

Over the past year we have searched Medline, Embase, International  
Pharmaceutical Abstracts, and Google Scholar. We indentified over 1300  
papers published in the last 5 years, but only 56 of these papers were  
relevant to the above themes. So, our first finding is that the evidence  
base for this area is very limited, given the huge importance of the  
subject.

Nevertheless, the 56 papers contain some interesting content and we would  
now like to explore this further with HIFA members on this forum.

We can start with theme (1) (we shall introduce other themes over the  
coming weeks):  
(1) The information sources used for prescribing in Low and Middle Income  
Countries (LMICs). The main three subthemes to emerge in theme 1 were:  
a. Many prescribers rely partially or entirely on pharmaceutical companies  
for their information  
b. Old print copies of the BNF (British National Formulary) are widely used  
c. There is a lack of uptodate national formularies in many countries, and  
sometimes there is discordance between content and national policy.

Do the above resonate with you? What is your experience? We invite your  
comments, suggestions, anecdotes from your experience, and any  
recommendations you may have for further reading on this topic.

Our aim is to better understand and highlight the issues on availability  
and use of information on medicines, and to use this to inform our future  
advocacy.

We are also working with colleagues at WHO Geneva to look into the  
possibility of a roundtable conference in late 2017 or early 2018 on the  
question: "What can be done to improve the availability and use of  
information for prescribers, dispensers and users of medicines in LMICs?"

On behalf of HIFA I would like to thank everyone on the HIFA working group  
on Information for Prescribers and Users of Medicines, and especially Sarah  
Cavanagh (our coordinator), Carla Rodrigues, Malcolm Brewster, John  
Liebhardt and John Eyers.

All of the above is being done so far without funding. However we would  
welcome any suggestions for how we might build our technical and/or  
financial capacity to acclerate progress. For more information please see  
our web page: [http://www.hifa.org/projects/prescribers-and-users-medicines](http://www.hifa.org/projects/prescribers-and-users-medicines)

With thanks and best wishes, Neil

Let's build a future where people are no longer dying for lack of  
healthcare information - Join HIFA: www.hifa.org

Neil Pakenham-Walsh  
coordinator of the HIFA campaign  
"Neil Pakenham-Walsh" \<neil.pakenham-walsh@ghi-net.org\>