Dear e-drug friends,
Some time ago I conducted a survey on the global response to the publication and
distribution of "The Rational Use of Drugs in the Management of Acute Diarrhoea
in Children" (an official WHO publication). The objective was to have drug
registration authorities deregister all paediatric antidiarrhoeal drugs in their
countries. Some 15,000 copies were distributed in the early 1990s, but the
response was limited (21 regulatory actions in the 5-year period 1989-1993).
I wrote an article on this survey. One reviewer commented that to know the
significance of the number 21, one would need to know the number of countries
that had antidiarrhoeals registered (the denominator). A fair question, but
difficult to answer since it is not easy (impossible?) to obtain such data from
the 250 countries in the world. To my knowledge there is no comprehensive global
database containing these data. Commercial prescribing guides (MIMS, PIMS, etc.)
have their own limitations.
At that time I approached the question from the other end. I asked several key
informants whether they were aware of any country in the world that did not have
any paediatric antidiarrhoeal drugs registered. Only 1 country fulfilled my
criterium: Peru (all antidiarrhoeals were banned shortly after the cholera
outbreak in January 1991). That would mean that probably the large majority of
countries (with a registration system in place) had one or more paediatric
antidiarrhoeals registered.
However, the subject continues to fascinate me and I would want to ask the same
question again to the large group of e-drug subscribers. So, to all of you the
question "Do you know of any country that does NOT have any PAEDIATRIC
antidiarrhoeal drug registered?"
I am interested only in PEDIATRIC formulations of ANTIDIARRHOEAL drugs
containing the following substances:
- Loperamide
- Diphenoxylate
- Streptomycin
- Neomycin
- Hydroxyquinolines (Clioquinol, Iodoquinol, Broxyquinoline,
Chlorquinaldol)
- Nonabsorbable sulphonamides (Sulphaguanidine, Succinylsulphathiazole,
Phthalylsulphathiazole)
- Kaolin
- Pectin
- Activated charcoal
- Attapulgite
- Smectite
Information on registration of these drugs in the world's countries is equally
welcome.
Your help is very much appreciated.
Hilbrand Haak, 102347.1567@compuserve.com