E-DRUG: PRDU Course in South Africa
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To all E-Druggers
I am very pleased to announce the next PRDUC course. As E-Druggers may know
we had planned to hold this course earlier this year in Swaziland but had to
cancel the course. This course in South Africa will definitely go ahead. We
are actively seeking funds to support follow up activities in at least three
countries after the course. We hope this will involve trainers from
University and Amsterdam following up participants with projects based on
what they have learned during the course. Of particular interest is that the
focus of this course will be on community aspects of HIV and AIDS. As the 3
by 5 movement develops the community related to uptake and adherence will
become critical issues. There is more information on the web at
http://www.who.int/medicines/organization/par/prduc.html
I hope that the course will be well subscribed and that there will be
substantial progress in this area over the next few years. This will be my
first time to attend the course and I am looking forward to the intense
interaction that occurs during this course.
Richard Laing (Medical Officer)
Policy, Access and Rational Use,
Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy,
World Health Organization
CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
Tel 41 22 791 4533
Fax 41 22791 4167
E-mail laingr@who.int
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Department of Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy, WHO, School of Pharmacy
MEDUNSA,
Medical Anthropology Unit University of Amsterdam and the Royal Tropical
Institute University of Amsterdam
announce an international training course
PROMOTING RATIONAL DRUG USE IN THE COMMUNITY
5-17 September 2004
Medical University of Southern Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
This is a two-week course for health programme staff from ministries of
health, universities, development agencies, nongovernmental and other
organizations, and individuals interested in improving medicines use in the
community.
OBJECTIVES
This ground breaking course was developed to meet requests from many
individuals and organizations, and to respond to a clear need for more
effective planning, research and implementation of rational medicines use
activities in the community. The course concentrates on methods to study
and remedy inappropriate medicines use in the community, including an
essential analysis of what shapes medicines demand. Participants will learn
practical approaches to investigating and prioritizing medicines use
problems, and how to develop effective strategies for change. It will focus
on medicines use to alleviate the AIDS pandemic. This will include studying
why patients do not come forward for treatment and what can be done to
improve adherence.
DESIGN
The course is participatory in nature and uses the knowledge, skills and
experiences of participants as a major resource throughout. Teaching methods
include group activities, field work, presentations and discussions.
Participants will spend the two final days preparing a detailed plan of
action to confront an important community drug use problem in their country
of origin. The course is conducted in English, and given its interactive
nature participants need a good command of that language to participate
fully. Course materials were developed by WHO and the University of
Amsterdam, in collaboration with colleagues throughout the world.
Participants will thus be exposed to a wide range of international
experience. The course complements and follows a similar approach to the
international training course on promoting rational drug use held regularly
by the International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) and WHO.
HIGHLIGHTS
* Factors that shape demand for medicines
* Methods to identify community medicines use problems
* How to prioritize problems related to medicines use
* Moving from research to practice
* Use of different media channels
* Understanding attitudes to AIDS treatment * Face-to-face
education
* Pretesting materials
* Advocacy and networking
* Planning and evaluating interventions
* Field exercises to assess medicines use with a particular focus on
AIDS-related conditions
VENUE
Week 1 will be conducted at a venue in Pretoria, with the second week in a
country setting.
FEES AND APPLICATION
The fee of US$ 2,950 covers tuition, course materials (including a core
library for participants to take home), shared accommodation and all meals.
Single rooms are available at an extra cost of approximately US$ 20 per
night payable by participants. The fee for local participants without
accommodation, breakfast or dinner is US$ 1,500. Participants should plan
to bring sufficient funds (approximately US$ 200) for incidental expenses
such as laundry, postage, telephone calls, souvenirs, airport tax, etc. All
travel expenses and health insurance are the responsibility of participants
or their sponsoring organization.
Application forms are obtainable from the address below or can be printed
out directly from the EDM web-page at
http://www.who.int/medicines/organization/par/prduc.html
The deadline for receipt of applications at the address given below is
16 July 2004. Fees are payable before 13 August 2004.
University of Amsterdam
FMG, Tel: +31 20 5252670
PRDUC Course Fax: +31 20 5253010
Attn. Mrs Annelies Dijkstra E-mail: prduc@pscw.uva.nl
Oudezjids Achterburgwal 185
1012 DK Amsterdam, the Netherlands
COLLABORATING INSTITUTIONS
WHO's Department of Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy (EDM), Geneva
The Department of Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy provides global
guidance and works with countries to develop and implement national
medicines policies and programmes. The aim is to ensure that essential
medicines are accessible to all the population, and that medicines are safe,
effective and rationally used. EDM also conducts training and research to
tackle problems in medicines procurement, accessibility, safety and use that
countries face in a rapidly changing pharmaceutical environment. The
Department has an extensive publications programme including series on
research, health economics and drugs, and interagency guidelines. EDM's
Essential Drugs Monitor, published in English, French, Spanish, Russian,
Chinese and Arabic, is an important source of information on new
developments and experience.
Medical Anthropology Unit (MAU), University of Amsterdam
The Medical Anthropology Unit, part of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural
Sciences, has a long tradition in applied and critical social science. It
collaborates with many national and international academic institutions and
development organizations. The MAU is known for its action- and
policy-oriented research on the use and distribution of pharmaceuticals,
gender and reproductive health, and injections and culture, which has
resulted in a steady stream of publications in Dutch and international
journals. Within the Netherlands, the MAU is the sole provider of a
comprehensive master's course in medical anthropology, attended by social
science and medical students of the University of Amsterdam and other
universities. The Unit also regularly organizes conferences on current
issues in international health.
KIT-HEALTH, Royal Tropical Institute
KIT-HEALTH is part of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in Amsterdam, which
is a diverse and multi-faceted international institute engaged in a broad
range of activities in the areas of development cooperation and
multicultural exchange. Through institutional cooperation KIT contributes to
an exchange of skills and knowledge worldwide. KIT-HEALTH staff is made up
of an international, multidisciplinary team of experts, which includes
specialists in the areas of public health, disease control, health
economics, nutrition, epidemiology, human resource development, drug policy,
health ecology and social sciences. KIT-HEALTH provides technical support
and advice in a variety of health and health-related fields through training
programmes, operational research and short- and long-term consultancies.
Partners include universities, health care research institutes and
governmental and nongovernmental organizations.
The School of Pharmacy, MEDUNSA will be the host institution. Through
experience gained in more than 20 years of training and project management,
the School of Pharmacy at MEDUNSA has developed highly efficient practices
for presenting training programmes and fielding project teams. These
programmes include pharmacy support staff basic and post-basic training;
information sessions for intern tutors; assistance with national
pharmaceutical infrastructures (evaluation of selection, procurement,
distribution, storage and use of medicines and vaccines); health care
providers, trainers and managers (promoting rational drug use, training of
trainers, basic pharmacoeconomics, research methodology, National Drug
Policy). The School has worked with a wide range of national and
international organizations.
TRAINERS
Prof. Dr. Anita Hardon is Scientific Director of the Amsterdam School of
Social Science Research (ASSR) and Head of the Medical Anthropology Unit,
University of Amsterdam, a medical biologist and medical anthropologist.
Her doctoral research on the use and distribution of medicines in the
Philippines has been followed by many other published studies on medicine
use, applied health research, quality of care, and fertility regulation.
She is author of a WHO manual on how to study drug use in communities and
leader of an international collaborative study in this field. Her activities
include running a five-week course on anthropology of health and health
care, and working with consumer organizations on rational drug use and
women's health.
Mr Andrew Chetley is the Director of Exchange, a networking and learning
programme on health communication, that aims to identify and share good
practice. A trained journalist and communications specialist, he has worked
with a range of NGOs and international organizations in the field of health,
education and development. He is the author of five books on public health
issues, including the rational use of drugs, and has experience of training
health workers and the media in effective communication.
Ms Trudie Gerrits (Course Coordinator) is working at the Medical
Anthropology Unit at the University of Amsterdam. She has a background in
medical anthropological research and health communication. She has more than
15 years' experience in medical anthropological research, lecturing and
project coordination.
Ms Ane Haaland is a communications trainer with a background in social
science, journalism and photography. She conducts intervention research on
training aspects of rational drug use for providers and community members,
and has developed a number of manuals on the subject. During 15 years based
in the field in Asia and Africa she has focussed on research and development
of visual methods to communicate with low-literate audiences, and on
programme implementation and evaluation. She teaches on participatory
learning methods, interpersonal communication and journalism.
Ms Catherine Hodgkin is Head of the Health Department of the Royal Tropical
Institute in The Netherlands (KIT): a multidisciplinary group of consultants
and trainers working in the field of health and development. For ten years
she was international coordinator of Health Action International (Europe),
an international network of NGOs and public interest groups working to
promote a more rational use of drugs. She has extensive experience in the
field of drug policy and consumer advocacy, and has contributed to a variety
of training activities for consumers, health professionals and policy
makers.
Dr Richard Laing is a Medical Officer in WHO's Essential Drugs and Medicines
Policy Department. He has worked previously as a professor at Boston
University and as a consultant for Management Sciences for Health in Boston.
In Africa, he worked in the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe for 18 years. He
has been responsible for developing other WHO supported courses in Promoting
Rational Drug Use and Drug Policy Issues for Developing and Transitional
Countries. He has a particular interest in methods of measuring and changing
medicine use at different levels within a health system.
Prof. Robert S. Summers is the Head of the School of Pharmacy at the Medical
University of Southern Africa (MEDUNSA). He is known and has been consulted
provincially, nationally and internationally for his expertise in the fields
of health and pharmaceutical services management and research. He has
published over 90 research papers, as well as many books and full-length
research reports. He is well-known for his leadership role in
pharmaceutical education and training.
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