Lamphone Syhakhang

Real world pharmacy: assessing the quality of private pharmacy practice in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

The private sector is a dominant actor in the provision of pharmaceuticals, particularly in developing countries. Private provision of drugs has been associated with risks regarding availability, affordability, rational use and drug quality. Ensuring an effective regulatory framework is therefore a major challenge for governments, yet the capacity of regulatory authorities is often outstripped by private sector growth. In the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (Lao P.D.R.), a poor, landlocked country in South East Asia, the private provision of drugs has increased dramatically since the liberalisation of the economy in the late 1980s. This paper aims to describe the quality of the private pharmacy services in the Savannakhet province of Lao P.D.R. In order to do this, a monitoring instrument which serves to make the concept of Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) operational was developed and applied to a sample of pharmacies. Service quality, as measured by three facility-specific indicators, showed a tendency to be lower in the most distant districts. Poor dispensing practices were manifest by a lack of information about drugs sold in 59% of cases, drugs not being labelled in 47% and different drugs being mixed in the same package in 26% of cases. The prices of four sample drugs were slightly higher in the remote districts. A 10-fold price difference for the same drug was recorded in one district. After reporting the findings, the paper discusses the possible influence of district and pharmacy variables on the quality of services, and goes on to discuss the price differences. It is concluded that further government interventions are needed in order to improve the quality of services and to focus regulatory action on a limited number of aspects, to ensure that drugs can be traced before trying to establish a comprehensive regulatory system.

Antimicrobial self medication for reproductive tract infections in two provinces in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Objectives: To describe antimicrobial self medication for reproductive tract infections (RTI) including sexually transmitted infections (STI), and to explore the understanding and use of health information among the adult population self medicating with antimicrobials for RTI/STI in two provinces of Laos. This could contribute to quality improvement of RTI/STI management. Methods: Cross sectional community based study. Structured interviews (household survey) were conducted among 500 subjects aged 18 or more, who had used antimicrobials as self medication for RTI/STI during the past year. They were recruited among 3056 family members in Vientiane capital and Champasak province, divided equally between the two study sites, and between urban and rural areas. Results: Among the 500 respondents reporting self medication for RTI/STI, 91% had bought the antimicrobials from local private pharmacies without a physician’s prescription. 58% of those were advised to buy the drugs from drug sellers. Ampicillin (not recommended as syndromic treatment for RTI/STI) was used in 83% of all cases, in 28% combined with tetracycline. 79% of respondents used antimicrobials for a non-recommended duration of time. Most respondents had access to health messages for RTI/STI, largely from radio/television and drug sellers. However, only 17% of all respondents reported that they had ever used a condom. Conclusions: More than three quarters of respondents, self medicating for RTI/STI with antimicrobials, used inappropriate drugs bought from private pharmacies. There is a need to improve RTI/STI management, including health promotion, through interventions at community level, and to health providers, including private drug sellers.

The quality of public and private pharmacy practices

Abstract. Aim: The aim was to study the practices of public and private pharmacies in the Savannakhet province, Lao PDR, in relation to defined aspects of good pharmacy practice (GPP) and rational use of drugs (RUD). Study design: The study design was cross-sectional using structured interviews and observations. A total of 105 drug sellers (31% and 4% had pharmacy education at public and private pharmacies, respectively) were interviewed, and the pharmacies were inspected. In addition, 576 customers were interviewed immediately after the drug transaction and all their drug purchases were recorded. Facility, patient-care and prescribing indicators covering aspects of GPP and RUD were used to measure and compare the quality of services of the pharmacies. Results: The results showed that public pharmacies differed significantly from private pharmacies, with lower mean scores for availability of essential drugs (5.1 vs 6.4), 95% confidence interval (CI –2.23, –0.34) and essential materials (5.6 vs 6.9, 95% CI –2.40, –0.20), and with a higher percentage of antibiotics dispensed (34% vs 24%, P<0.02), as well as more injections (31% vs 7%, P<0.001) and drugs per customer (2.4 vs 1.4, 95% CI 0.84, 1.16). More drug purchases were decided by health workers at public pharmacies than at private pharmacies (92% vs 16%). At public pharmacies, significantly more drugs were prescribed from the National Essential Drug List (76% vs 56%, P=0.004), and more drugs had an international non-proprietary name (67% vs 35%, P<0.001). There was no significant difference regarding order in the pharmacy, oral information and drugs adequately labelled at the public pharmacies compared with the private pharmacies. Conclusion: In spite of the differences shown, both public and private pharmacies performed suboptimally in relation to several aspects of GPP and RUD. The lack of essential drugs, essential materials, information on drug use and adequate drug labelling all contribute to irrational use of drugs. Interventions are needed to improve practice and drug use.

Reproductive tract infections among women attending a gynecology outpatient department in Vientiane, Lao PDR

Objectives and Goal: To clinically and microbiologically identify reproductive tract infections (RTI), including sexually transmitted infections (STI), and to monitor the antibiotic susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae among women attending a gynecology outpatient department in Vientiane, Laos. Study Design: Clinical and laboratory-based cross-sectional study. Women aged 15 to 49 years underwent a pelvic examination, and specimens were taken for laboratory testing. Results: Of 1125 study participants, 82% clinically presented with an RTI syndrome. However, only 64% had an etiologically diagnosed RTI, including 11% with an STI. Endogenous infections were most prevalent (candidiasis 40%; bacterial vaginosis 25%), followed by STI [Chlamydia trachomatis 4.1%; N. gonorrhoeae (NG) and Trichomonas vaginalis, both 3.7%]. The 41 NG isolates showed 20% resistance to ciprofloxacin, 98% to penicillin, and complete to tetracycline. Conclusions: High RTI/STI level combined with high NG resistance emphasizes that concurrent with syndromic case management, periodic evaluations of etiological diagnosis should be available to ensure adequacy of treatment algorithms and prescribed medications.

Provider performance in treating poor patients--factors influencing prescribing practices in lao PDR: a cross-sectional study.

BackgroundOut-of-pocket payments make up about 80% of medical care spending at hospitals in Laos, thereby putting poor households at risk of catastrophic health expenditure. Social security schemes in the form of community-based health insurance and health equity funds have been introduced in some parts of the country. Drug and Therapeutics Committees (DTCs) have been established to ensure rational use of drugs and improve quality of care. The objective was to assess the appropriateness and expenditure for treatment for poor patients by health care providers at hospitals in three selected provinces of Laos and to explore associated factors.MethodsCross-sectional study using four tracer conditions. Structured interviews with 828 in-patients at twelve provincial and district hospitals on the subject of insurance protection, income and expenditures for treatment, including informal payment. Evaluation of each patients medical record for appropriateness of drug use using a checklist of treatment guidelines (maximum score = 10).ResultsNo significant difference in appropriateness of care for patients at different income levels, but higher expenditures for patients with the highest income level. The score for appropriate drug use in insured patients was significantly higher than uninsured patients (5.9 vs. 4.9), and the length of stay in days significantly shorter (2.7 vs. 3.7). Insured patients paid significantly less than uninsured patients, both for medicines (USD 14.8 vs. 43.9) and diagnostic tests (USD 5.9 vs. 9.2). On the contrary the score for appropriateness of drug use in patients making informal payments was significantly lower than patients not making informal payments (3.5 vs. 5.1), and the length of stay significantly longer (6.8 vs. 3.2), while expenditures were significantly higher both for medicines (USD 124.5 vs. 28.8) and diagnostic tests (USD 14.1 vs. 7.7).ConclusionsThe lower expenditure for insured patients can help reduce the number of households experiencing catastrophic health expenditure. The positive effects of insurance schemes on expenditure and appropriate use of medicines may be associated with the long-term effects of promoting rational use of drugs, including support to active DTC work.