Self-Medication In Developing Countries

Responsible self-medication should not be subject to local or regional restrictions such as price or advertising controls, or standards for defining over-the-counter and prescription products, Bayer AG regional director Jurgen zur Oven told a recent Drug Information Association meeting in Mexico.

In Mexico, he said, good progress has already been made towards supplying the population with adequate OTCs, in contrast to many other countries. Mexico's self-medication policy is fairly liberal, with the exception of prices; these are still controlled, whereas the OTC industry would prefer to leave prices to the regulating forces of the marketplace.

Factors Leading To Uncontrolled Sales Of Rx Drugs In many developing countries, the environment frequently does not favor responsible self-medication, said Mr zur Oven. A lack of accessible and affordable professional health care, combined with the widespread practice of not reimbursing prescription drugs, a lack of government control and tight price curbs on prescription drugs can artificially create a situation in which antibiotics could cost less than a box of aspirin. This then leads to prescription drugs becoming easily available without a prescription, he said; in the four biggest Latin American OTC markets - Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico - it is estimated that about $2.1 billion worth of prescription drugs a year are sold without a prescription.