PROBLEMS OF DRUG PRESCRIPTION AT PRIMARY HEALTH-CARE CENTERS IN SOUTHERN SAUDI-ARABIA

Objectives: 1. To study the problems of drug prescription at primary h ealth care (PHC) centres. 2. To identify reasons for inappropriate pre scribing and to attempt to formulate a strategy to solve the problem. Setting: Six PHC centres in Asir Region, southern Saudi Arabia. Subjec ts: Eighty-nine PHC physicians who answered a questionnaire about the World Health Organization essential drugs list (EDL) and their prescri bing habits. Intervention: Review and analysis of one week's prescript ions at PHCs and a questionnaire conducted by the authors. Results: Ab out 10% of the prescriptions were incomplete; antibiotics were the mos t prescribed drugs; about one-third of PHC physicians had a poor knowl edge of the WHO EDL and about half of them lacked a reliable source of drug information. Conclusion: There is a great need for a multidiscip linary approach to solve the problem of prescribing. The medical schoo ls, Ministry of Health, drug companies and the public can launch appro priate educational programmes to educate doctors continuously about dr ugs.