Daniela Fontana

Barriers to pharmaceutical care in Argentina

Objective To identify the perceived barriers to implementing pharmaceutical care in Argentina. Method A semi-structured questionnaire was designed to carry out a cross-sectional descriptive study. The questionnaires were distributed in different continuing professional development events for pharmacists during November–December 2005. Results Ninety completed questionnaires were collected with the following distribution: 16.7% at the national congress of hospital pharmacy, 18.9% after a conference, 64.4% during two courses related to pharmaceutical care. The surveyed pharmacists work for community pharmacies (76.7%), hospital/institutional pharmacies (20.0%) and primary care centers (2.2%). The most important barriers mentioned were lack of time, lack of specific training and lack of communication skills. Conclusion The opinions of Argentinian pharmacists from different places and professional practice settings were obtained. In all work settings, “lack of time” is the main barrier to overcome for implementing pharmaceutical care.

Consumo de antimicrobianos en la Unidad de Terapia Intensiva del Hospital Dr. Guillermo Rawson-San Juan, Argentina

INTRODUCTION To achieve rational use of antibiotics (ATB), is necessary to know its use and prescription patterns over time, Objective: To describe and analyze the characteristics of the use of ATB in the Guillermo Rawson Hospital (GRH) adult intensive care unit (ICU). MATERIAL AND METHOD Observational, descriptive, longitudinal and retrospective study (2008-2011). Pharmacy and Statistics records were consulted, ATC code was used, the group analyzed was J01, Oral or parenteral DDD were assigned, Data was processed with Excel 2007, Unit of measure: DDD/100 bed-days, for each ATB per year and an average of use. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Over 4 years, 48 different medicines were dispensed (33 drugs), The average consumption of ATB was 177,07 DDD/100 bed-days and distribution per year was: 183,10, 165,90, 180,94, 178,34, The DDD/100 bed-days average for treatment groups more used were: penicillin (57.10), other β-lactam antibacterials (48.01), other antibacterials (21.07), trimethoprim and sulfonamides (19,54), quinolones (15,64), macrolides/azalides and lincosamides (6,53), aminoglycosides (5,65) and tetracyclines (3,53), There were changes in consumption without clear pattern of increase or decrease. CONCLUSIONS ATB used in the ICU and its variation in use between 2008-2011 were described, The ATB most used were penicillins and other β-lactams and 2008 was the year that more ATB was dispensed. Understanding these patterns of consumption will be useful to develop a founded antibiotic policy reached by consensus and beneficial to the patients.

Regulatory issues on pharmacovigilance in Latin American countries

Fil: Olivera, Maria Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Cordoba. Unidad de Investigacion y Desarrollo en Tecnologia Farmaceutica. Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas. Unidad de Investigacion y Desarrollo en Tecnologia Farmaceutica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas. Departamento de Farmacia; Argentina