E-DRUG: INRUD News
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The International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) was established in 1989 to design, test, and disseminate effective strategies to improve the way drugs are prescribed, dispensed, and used, with a particular emphasis on resource poor countries.
The network now comprises 23 groups, 18 from Africa, Asia and Latin America, and other groups from the World Health Organization/ Department of Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy, the Harvard Medical School Department of Ambulatory Care, the Karolinski Institute in Sweden, the University of Newcastle in Australia, and a secretariat based in Management Sciences for Health in the United States.
A key responsibility for any health program or organization is ensuring that high-quality essential drugs are available, affordable, and used rationally. For both health systems and individuals, pharmaceuticals represent a major expenditure. Misuse of scarce resources, makes a difficult situation even worse. To improve this situation, it is crucial to improve the use of medicines. INRUD's mission is to identify the best ways of improving their use and to disseminate these findings.
The INRUD secretariat now receives financial support primarily from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Historically, INRUD has been funded by the Danish International Development Agency with ad hoc support from other donors, including the Pew Charitable Trusts, the World Health Organization's Department of Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy, and the Swedish International Development Agency.
INRUD is now accepting new group membership applications. [at http://www.inrud.org/membership.html ]
Seven new member groups, from Kenya, Peru, India-Tamilnadu State, India-Delhi State, Ethiopia, China and Cambodia, have recently been accepted. Details of the first four groups were published in the October 2002 issue of INRUD News, information on the Ethiopian group was in the April 2003 issue and details of the China and Cambodian groups will be in the Autumn 2003 issue
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The International Network for the Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) is pleased to announce that the latest edition of the INRUD News is now posted on the INRUD website at www.inrud.org.
This is the first web only edition and should be easy to download and print, so please take a look and pass on this information to those you think may be interested.
Any comments or feedback are welcome via e mail to inrud@msh.org .
Happy New Year!
John Chalker
INRUD Coordinator
inrud@msh.org