E-DRUG: The Global Village and essential drugs (2)
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Wilbert,
I would like to comment on your first point "drugs can be defined as chemical
products plus information". This definition ingnores the special place of
medicines in society. They should not be regarded as normal items of commerce.
The factors influencing medication use, and therefore sales, are many and
complex and are open to manipulation. The global village approach must take
account of social and cultural factors which are strong influences on
medication use, and a commercial approach may lead to poor quality medication
use if local norms are perverted by a view that medicines can be treated as
items of commerce.
Andy Gilbert
Dr. Andrew Gilbert
Senior Lecturer
School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences
University of South Australia
Adelaide 5000
South Australia
Phone: 0883022373
Email: Andrew.Gilbert@unisa.edu.au
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