Dear Rizwan
We think your message concerning drug reference books was interesting and
important, and we are therefore responding via e-drug to share our experience.
The Essential Drugs Project has for eight years been sending copies of the
British National Formulary and other key texts to 150 members of our BNF
distribution scheme, which is free - all the books are donated. We
therefore have considerable experience of the benefits and pitfalls.
The first point to make is that distribution costs are very high, even for a
small book like the BNF, for which we pay nothing. USPDI is much heavier,
so would cost a vast amount to post. We find we have to raise a grant for
our twice-yearly mailings - each mailing costs a minimum of 600 pounds
sterling. If we enclose other free materials, the price goes up by up to 50
per cent.
The second point, arising from the first, is that we have had to set strict
criteria for membership of our scheme. We only include those people who are
able to reach a secondary audience, such as editors of drug bulletins,
trainers and teachers in training colleges and schools of pharmacy and
medicine, managers of pharmaceutical systems and services, and drug
evaluators working in ministries of health.
Thirdly, without increased resources (including people) it is difficult for
a small organisation to reach new members: in fact, we have maintained
contact with the same groups and individuals with very few changes
throughout the lifetime of the scheme.
Fourthly, the physical work of packing and posting, maintaining an up to
date mailing list of members who fit the criteria, responding to
correspondence, and applying for funds, makes this a much more complicated
service than it seems at first.
However, we feel that the work involved is really important and worthwhile,
as it has been shown to result in a great range of necessary drug
information activities in many different countries. If you can get over the
problems it would be wonderful to circulate copies of USPDI material.
In fact, I believe that USPDI already sends a number of new books to
contacts in developing countries. Would it be possible to extend this
service in the way that the Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association/Royal
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has done with its Pharmaid scheme?
This is a scheme which depends on pharmacists returning recent copies of the
BNF and Martindale which are then distributed in Commonwealth countries via
a London-based NGO distributor, Book Aid International.
As far as we know, the IFPMA's book distribution scheme no longer exists.
Best wishes,
Philippa Saunders and Gill Stoker
Essential Drugs Project
Email: edp@gn.apc.org
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