E-DRUG: specialist level meeting on essential drugs (2)
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How about an evidence based medicine session where only those
medicines that pass certain criteria can be considered. This focusses
on what works and what does not. You can then use L'Abbe plots and
NNTs. For a good description of this kind of material see the
Bandolier web page (www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/Bandolier)
Sessions then concentrate on how to find evidence and where to find
it. We are currently working on an initiative to bring all the best
evidence on essential drugs into one place to show that in a good
number of cases EDL is good medicine as shown by quality RCTs and
sytematic reviews.
Phil Wiffen
Regional Pharmaceutical Adviser, Anglia & Oxford NHSE. Department of
Health.
Pain Relief Unit, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7LJ UK
01865 225762
Co-ordinating Editor
Pain, Palliative & Supportive Care. Cochrane Collaborative Review
Group
email: phil.wiffen@pru.ox.ac.uk
http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/Cochrane
[This sounds very interesting! South Africa also tried to use
evidence based criteria for the selection of their standard treatment
protocols and essential drug lists, but it was not so easy to find the
evidence! The Cochrane CD helped a great lot, but several 'simple'
questions have not yet been included. More international collaboration
seems needed to get the priorities of developing countries checked
fast. After all, some evidence should be more essential than other
evidence, isn't it? WB]
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