Self Medication- A Serious Threat to Society by Mohammed in LOJNHC in Lupine Publishers.
Self-medication practices involve the consumption of drugs to treat
self-diagnosed symptoms or disorders and also include the use of
prescribed drugs intermittently or continually for chronic or recurrent
ailments or its manifestations. Self-medication is widely practiced as a
first-line option in most types of illness and has led to the
widespread concern over the irrationality of drug use. The prevalence of
such practices is alarmingly high in developing countries where
achievement of universal healthcare is far from achieved. The scenario
in India, which is stratified by the World Bank into lower-middle income
country, is not much different from other developing nation
counterparts. Many studies have concluded that people who tend to
self-medicate detain care seeking and this in turn can result in
paradoxical increase in healthcare cost as a result of the delay in
proper diagnosis and therapy. There also arises the problem of
drug-interactions and anti-biotic resistance due to lack of guidance
from a qualified practitioner who could have mitigated and prevented
such instances with his clinical expertise. In the light of these
incidences, WHO has emphasized the need to regulate such practices and
need to educate the public on the aspects of self-medication?
Even though educated and responsible self-medication practices can
reduce the unnecessary cost burden in patient and payer perspective and
result in overall cost-minimization; some conditions are to be realized
for this to be effective [1-3]. These conditions comprise of: the drugs
used are indicated for those ailments which are self-recognizable and
consumer is educated on the proper drug use and its risks as well as
benefits [4,5]. In developing countries, professional health care is
relatively expensive and many drugs which are available as prescription
drugs in developed countries is available as OTCs; thereby leading to
strong reliance on such medications to treat prevalent conditions [6,7].
Although as per drug laws relevant to India, self-medication practice
is permitted for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs; there is absence of a
well-defined list of OTC drugs. Those drugs which do not fall under
Schedule H or G are regarded as OTC and can be procured without the
prescription of a registered physician and are consumed as
self-medication.
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