Give patients the necessary drug information
Sep 13, 2009
<b>By Charity Ahimbisibwe</b><br><br>In the recent past I have had the misfortune of having been given a drug which I reacted to.<br><br>I had a urinary tract infection and was given cephalexin. It was dispensed in a clinic by health workers who did n
By Charity Ahimbisibwe
In the recent past I have had the misfortune of having been given a drug which I reacted to.
I had a urinary tract infection and was given cephalexin. It was dispensed in a clinic by health workers who did not tell me about its side effects.
The dosage was two tablets to be taken three times a day. By the third time of taking the drug, I was so sick. Suddenly my intestines felt like they were closed up. My stomach was churning and I was cringing in pain. It was not until I took some milk and honey that I was able to sleep that night.
Next day I went on taking the drug and the pain in my stomach got worse each time. So I decided to consult a different doctor.
He told me the drug is good. But I insisted I was not feeling well. It is then that the doctor searched for and downloaded the side effects of cephalexin off the Internet. I had all the reactions listed. Headache, diarrhoea, itching and unexplained rash. He changed the drug for me and it is only then that I normalised. This experience got me thinking. What happens to people in the village who get drug reactions and have no access to information? Worse still, have no other doctor to consult. Some of them end up dying.
In my opinion, health workers in Uganda need to pull up their socks. Drugs are usually packed with a leaflet that contains information about the drug. This information is availed so that the person buying the drug is able to read and discontinue it in case of a reaction.
Unfortunately in Uganda when a drug is being dispensed, it is pulled out of its original packaging and given to the patient. No information concerning the drug is availed to the patient by the pharmacist. The patient is left to the mercy of the drug.
The only information drug dispensers provide is how many times to swallow a drug, but they never talk of the side effects, something that is central in medicine.
Patients should not be left to experiment with their lives. Some experiments can end up in death or damage to some body organs. Drug reactions range from mild to fatal.
Therefore, to avoid such situations, drug dispensers must avail all the necessary information to patients when dispensing drugs.
The writer is a journalist
In the recent past I have had the misfortune of having been given a drug which I reacted to.
I had a urinary tract infection and was given cephalexin. It was dispensed in a clinic by health workers who did not tell me about its side effects.
The dosage was two tablets to be taken three times a day. By the third time of taking the drug, I was so sick. Suddenly my intestines felt like they were closed up. My stomach was churning and I was cringing in pain. It was not until I took some milk and honey that I was able to sleep that night.
Next day I went on taking the drug and the pain in my stomach got worse each time. So I decided to consult a different doctor.
He told me the drug is good. But I insisted I was not feeling well. It is then that the doctor searched for and downloaded the side effects of cephalexin off the Internet. I had all the reactions listed. Headache, diarrhoea, itching and unexplained rash. He changed the drug for me and it is only then that I normalised. This experience got me thinking. What happens to people in the village who get drug reactions and have no access to information? Worse still, have no other doctor to consult. Some of them end up dying.
In my opinion, health workers in Uganda need to pull up their socks. Drugs are usually packed with a leaflet that contains information about the drug. This information is availed so that the person buying the drug is able to read and discontinue it in case of a reaction.
Unfortunately in Uganda when a drug is being dispensed, it is pulled out of its original packaging and given to the patient. No information concerning the drug is availed to the patient by the pharmacist. The patient is left to the mercy of the drug.
The only information drug dispensers provide is how many times to swallow a drug, but they never talk of the side effects, something that is central in medicine.
Patients should not be left to experiment with their lives. Some experiments can end up in death or damage to some body organs. Drug reactions range from mild to fatal.
Therefore, to avoid such situations, drug dispensers must avail all the necessary information to patients when dispensing drugs.
The writer is a journalist