title: [Essential drugs: availability and prescription in Monastir (Tunisia) health district].
abstract: Shortages in the availability of some drugs are sometimes noted in primary health care (PHC) centres in spite of the steady increase in the drug budgets in Tunisia. We conducted a survey therefore in 1998 in the health district of Monastir to study the availability of certain essential drugs (n = 15) in PHC centres and the main features of the drug prescription. We found that the drugs lacking were generally those prescribed for chronic diseases and as well as oral antibiotics. Antibiotic treatment constituted 71.8% of public prescriptions and 32.3% of these prescriptions were for an injectable treatment.
authors.affiliation: Département de Médecine communautaire, Faculté de Médecine de Monastir, Monastir, Tunisie.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ben Salem
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Belghith
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ben Amor
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harzallah
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Soltani
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002017:Budgets / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000188:drug therapy; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018954:Drugs, Essential / Q000191:economics / Q000600:supply & distribution* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D018954:Drugs, Essential