E-drug: PTC Committees
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I have been working in Zimbabwe recently assisting the sub committee
established by the National Drugs and Therapeutics Committee policy
Advisory Committee on establishing PTC committees. The NDTPAC have
established a sub committee to work on this topic. They have reviewed Terms
of reference from Namibia, Malawi, Kenya (in MDS2) and from four hospitals
in Australia. These are the terms of reference they agreed to field test
for the next six months in nine hospitals:
DRAFT PROPOSAL FOR HDTC
The Zimbabwe National Drug Policy is to 'encourage health workers to
participate in collaborative management of drugs in their institutions in
order to promote rational drug use'. The Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare recognises the need for hospital drug and therapeutics committees
(HDTCs) to achieve this. In order to succeed in achieving compliance to
guidelines the committees must employ the principle of 'ownership' i.e.
encouraging participation, communication and consultation with the major
stakeholders i.e. prescribers, consumers, hospital administrators and the
tax payers. Integration of the training, educational, managerial and
regulatory activities occurring at all levels would aid in achieving the
aims and objectives of improving drug use in Zimbabwean hospitals. Each
hospital may choose to have different members and may have different terms
of reference. This is perfectly acceptable and is to be expected.
Draft Terms of reference
1 Name
2 Aim(s) of the Committee
To encourage health workers to participate in collaborative management of
drugs in their institutions in order to promote the rational and cost
effective use of drugs.
3 Membership
Important features of the Committee include promotion of direct
communication with senior management, multidisciplinarity, community and
consumer representation. Therefore it is likely to consist of members with
the following possible representation:
�Medical staff (including representatives from each department or division)
�Pharmacy
�Nursing
�Hospital Administration including medical records and accounts
�Clinical Pharmacology
�Laboratory
�General Practitioners (where relevant)
�Private Specialists (where relevant)
�Junior Doctors (where relevant)
�City Health Department or district health team member
�Consumer/ community representative
The committee may occasionally invite a specialist to make a presentation
or give advice on a specific issue. In addition, the committee may wish to
call on members of the HDTC subcommittee of the National Drug and
Therapeutics Policy Advisory Committee (NDTPAC) to assist them.
4 Chairperson
The Chairperson shall be determined by the hospital executive committee.
Usually the chairperson would be the Medical Superintendent or another
senior doctor who would be able to influence senior prescribers.
5 Secretary
The secretary shall be the chief pharmacist of the hospital
6 Operation of the Committee
The Committee shall meet monthly. In the absence of the Chairperson, the
meeting will be chaired by another member elected for the purpose on that
day. In the absence of the Secretary, the secretary's function shall be
undertaken by another member elected for the purpose on the day. The
Committee shall report through the Hospital Superintendent to the Hospital
Executive. Minutes of the meetings should be circulated to committee
members and copied to the HDTC subcommittee of the NDTPAC.
7 Objectives
7.1 Main Objective
To set up programs for maximising rational and cost effective drug use by
all prescribers in the hospitals.
7.2 Specific Objectives
The committee will be responsible for defining their specific objectives
on an annual basis. These may include:
(a) To formulate policies and guidelines pertaining to the use of drugs
within the hospital.
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