OECS Health Care providers and patients stand to benefit further from updated book on Medicines

Castries, St Lucia (May 1, 2010): Health Care providers, Health Care training institutions, and patients in the OECS are expected to gain additional and useful knowledge from a revised publication with vital information on the availability of medicines, their indications, and their side effects.

The publication, which is the seventh edition of the OECS Medicines formulary, is produced by the OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement Service OECSPPS.

Announcing the launch of the 7th OECS Medicines Formulary on the OECS News Link (www.oecs.org), head of the OECS PPS, Francis Burnett, stated the formulary is a compilation of medicines used in the public sector of the nine OECS Member countries. Burnett described the pocket sized 7th OECS Medicines formulary as a reference guide to rapid drug information on the indications, side effects and contraindications of medicines in current use. Burnett says the inclusion of 127 new medicines in the revised formulary will also boost the confidence of doctors in the availability of the best medicines for patients.

The 7th OECS Medicines Formulary also indicates that fifty-two obsolete drugs have been considered ineffective and therefore superseded by better and more effective medicines: “We have an updated formulary which totals over 500 medicines. The medicines in the new OECS Medicines formulary span a wide variety of treatment for common illnesses which are prevalent in OECS Countries. It’s designed to fit in someone’s pocket, so a busy physician can easily refer to it during bedside care of patients. It’s primarily targeting health professionals for rational use of medicines. Patients, such as, those with multiple conditions and receiving several drugs concurrently should find the document useful.”

The OECSPPS is also considering making the 7th OECS Medicines Formulary available online on the OECS Secretariat’s website (www.oecs.org) :

The OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement Service is the designated OECS agency responsible for the pooled procurement and management of medicines for the nine OECS Member Countries.