Introduction The data presented are part of a World Health Organizatio
n (WHO) multicenter study of self-medication in Latin America. Brazili
an sites included: Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, the city of S. Paulo and
outlying locations. The objective was to characterize self-medication
practices by analyzing drugs sought by consumers in pharmacies withou
t a physician's prescription. Material and Method Drugs were classifie
d according to the Anatomic Therapeutic Classification codes, and anal
yzed with respect to 1) intrinsic value; 2) recognition as an essentia
l drug (by either WHO or Brazil); 3) number of active ingredients; and
4) requirement for prescription. Results Five thousand, three hundred
and thirty-two (5,332) different drugs, with 785 distinct active ingr
edients were sought. Of these, 49.5% were fixed dose combinations, 53.
0% were of little intrinsic value, 44,1% required a physician 's presc
ription, 71.0% were not essential drugs, and 40.0% of requests were ba
sed on prior prescriptions from the physician. The drugs most requeste
d were analgesics (17.3%), nasal descongestants (7.0%), antirheumatic
anti-inflamatory drugs (5.6%), and systemic anti-infective drugs (5.6%
). Conclusions Self-medication in Brazil reflects the needs and habits
of the population. It is strongly influenced by physician's-prescribi
ng habits and by the inadequate selectivity of the Brazilian pharmaceu
tical market.