ISLAMABAD: A new study has revealed that patients in Pakistan are being prescribed significantly more medicines than medically necessary, with experts pointing to several factors behind the widespread practice of overprescribing.
The research was conducted by experts from the Health Services Academy, Islamabad, and found that an average of 4.2 medicines were prescribed per prescription in Pakistan, compared with the World Health Organization’s recommended range of 1.6 to 1.8 medicines.
The study found particularly high levels of prescribing at a major hospital in Peshawar, where an average of 10.56 medicines were prescribed per prescription.
The research also highlighted the limited use of generic medicines in Pakistan. Only 25% of medicines are prescribed by their generic names, despite the World Health Organization recommending that medicines should be prescribed using generic names.
Antibiotics were found in 45% of prescriptions, significantly higher than the WHO-recommended range of 20% to 26.8%. More than 27% of prescriptions also included injectable medicines.
The study also revealed that only 72% of the drugs prescribed were part of the National Essential Medicines List.
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It was found that unnecessary prescriptions were common throughout the country, right from the primary healthcare facilities to teaching hospitals. It was observed that the patients themselves were demanding injections and antibiotics, thinking that these drugs would help them recover quickly.
Experts also identified pharmaceutical companies’ marketing practices as a major factor behind the low use of generic medicines.
Even though there are prescribing guidelines on medicine, the specialists noted that the guidelines were not being followed.
They urged for more action to be taken to reduce the unnecessary prescription of medications, including antibiotics, stating that greater compliance with the prescribing guidelines was necessary.
