Rational Drug Use

Supported by USAID

Prescribing, Dispensing,

Counseling and Adherence in ART

Programs

Pharmaceutical Management Cycle

Selection

ProcurementManagement Support

Distribution

Use

Policy, Regulations, Laws

Definition of RDU

The rational use of drugs requires that:– patients receive medications

appropriate to their clinical needs, – in doses that meet their own individual

requirements – for an adequate period of time, and – at the lowest cost to them and their

community.

WHO conference of experts, Nairobi 1985

Importance of RDU in the context of ART• ART is:

– Complex (a combination of many drugs)– a life treatment– Recent and in constant development

• An irrational drug use of ARVs results in the following:– Treatment failure – Rapid development of drug resistance– Increase of toxicity risk – Wastage of money

The promotion of RDU in the context of ART is a must from day one!

Rational Drug Use

Prescriber, Dispenser &

their workplaces

Drug Supply System

Patient & community

Many Factors Influence Use of Medicines

Policy, Legal and Regulatory framework

Diagnosis: Aspects that lead to Irrational Drug Use• Inadequate examination of patient• Incomplete communication between patient

and doctor • Lack of documented medical history• Inadequate laboratory Resources

Prescription: Types of Irrational Drug Use

• Under-prescribing

• Incorrect prescribing

• Extravagant prescribing

• Over-prescribing

• Multiple prescribing

Dispensing: Types of Irrational Drug Use• Incorrect interpretation of the prescription• Retrieval of wrong ingredients• Inaccurate counting, compounding, or pouring• Inadequate labeling• Unsanitary procedures• Packaging:

– Poor-quality packaging materials– Odd package size, which may require repackaging– Unappealing package

ART Dispensing – Differences?

• Why is dispensing key for the success of ART programs?

• Are there significant differences between dispensing ARTs and other medicines?

ART Dispensing – Differences?

• A stock-out of one ARV in regimen result in the cessation of therapy until the drug is available again

• Time of taking medicines more important than for many other medicines

• Date of collection of medicines more important – reflects on adherence

• Accurate and complete record keeping is vital• Regimens more complex so knowledge of

treatment guidelines more important.

ART Dispensing needs clear Dispensing Guidelines

ARV Dispensing – Clear Patient Presentations

ARV Dispensing Clear Patient Instructions

Adherence to HAART

• Goal of HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy) is to suppress viral load in the blood to undetectable levels

• Adherence to treatment is critical to obtain full benefits of HAART:– maximal and durable suppression of viral

replication,– reduced destruction of CD4 cells, – prevention of viral resistance, – promotion of immune reconstitution– slowed disease progression.

Adherence vs Compliance

• Adherence: The act or quality of sticking to something; steady devotion; the act of adhering

The acceptance of an active role in ones health care

• Compliance: the act of yielding conforming, or acquiescing

Lack of sharing in the decision made between provider and client

How Much Adherence is Required for Optimal Results of HAART?

Adherence Viral load<400

>95% 81%

90-95% 64%

80-90% 25%

<70% 6%Paterson D.L et al 2000. ann. Int. medicine

Consequences of Poor Adherence• For the individual:

– Treatment failure: incomplete viral suppression, continued destruction of the immune system, disease progression

– Drug resistance: emergency of resistant viral strains – Limited future treatment options: more complex

treatment, more toxicity, uncertain prognosis• From a public Health perspective:

– Transmission of resistant virus (subsequent HAART failure)

• From a health economics perspective:– Negative impact on the established cost-benefit of

HAART – higher cost to the individual and ART program

SLEPTIN

AWAYFROM HOME

RAN OUT OF

PILLS

FELT ILL

FELT BETTERPILLS

DO NOT HELP

FEAR SIDE

EFFECTSDID NOT WANT

OTHERS TO SEE

FAMILY SAID NO TO MEDICATIO

N

FORGOT/ BUSY

DID NOT UNDERSTAND INSTRUCTION

S

MISSED DOSES

TAKING PILL

HOLIDAYS

UNABLE to CARE

FOR SELF

Adherence: Why do Patients Miss Doses? (Barriers to adherence 1)

Let’s find together a solution for your problem

•I am listening•You can trust me•I understand •I suggest…•What do you think?•I’ll explain to you how to take these medicines

Other Barriers to adherence

• Communication difficulties

• Literacy levels

• Inadequate knowledge of HIV disease

• Inadequate understanding of effectiveness of medications

• Lack of social support

• Discomfort with disclosure of HIV status

• Difficult life conditions

• Alcohol and drug use

• Depression and other psychiatric problems

• System barriers

Adherence Multi-disciplinary Roles• Same message from all!

Adherence Message for the patient

Doctors Adherence Nurse

PharmacistFamily/ Friends

Counselor Social

Worker

Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy in Adults: A guide for Trainers. Horizon/Population Council

Methods and Challenges of Measuring Adherence (2)• Self reports • Pill counts• Pharmacy records• Provider estimate• Pill identification test• Biological markers• Electronic devices• Measuring drug levels

Strategies and Tools to Enhance Adherence (1)

Pre-treatment strategies• Identification of potential non-adherent and

address the barriers to adherence before first ARV prescription

• Identification of adherence partners/buddy’s (Peer, friend, family)

• Identification of reminders/tools to help taking pills

Strategies and Tools to Enhance Adherence (2)• Treatment adherence-support

strategies– Generation of daily-due review/refill list and

‘flag’ absent patients– Referral to community-based Healthcare workers

and NGO’s– Use of Directly Administered Antiretroviral

Therapy, DAART– Use of incentives and enablers

Recap on Adherence

• A perfect adherence to ART is a must• The consequences of poor adherence are

poor health outcomes and increased health care costs

• Adherence is a dynamic process that needs to be followed up

• Patient-tailored interventions are required• Family/friends, community: key factor in

improving adherence• Multidisciplinary approach towards adherence

is needed

Nutrition and ART

HIV Nutrition

Nutrition Affects HIV:• Poor nutrition reduces ability to fight HIV and

O.I.s• Nutritional problems can affect drug compliance

HIV Affects Nutrition:• Metabolic changes and wasting• Reduced food consumption• Nutrient malabsorption

Affects

ART Nutrition

• ART Affects Nutrition– Drugs can decrease appetite (decrease food intake)

(AZT can cause nausea, GI disturbances may lead to reduced food intake)

– Drugs can cause metabolic changes Indinavir (can raise blood sugar) LPV/RTV (can worsen high

triglycerides or cholesterol levels – Drugs can cause vitamin disturbances (INH depletes Vit. B6)

• Nutrition Affects ART– Food can hinder or help drug absorption– Certain minerals can hinder drug absorption– Certain vitamins can help minimize drug side effects– Alcohol can exacerbate side effects of drugs

Affects

Nutrition and ARVsARV Food Effect Oral

Bioavailability

Nevirapine No effect > 90%

Efavirenz Absorption of tabs increased 79% with tabs and 51% with caps with high fat meal. (Avoid high fat meal)

42%

AZT, ZDV

None ( May be better tolerated with food. Fatty food may decrease bioavailability (AIDS 1990;4;229)

60%

d4T Stavudine3TC Lamivudine

NoneNone

86%86%

ddI Levels less than 19% with food (take two hours before and two hours after meals.)

30-40%

Nutrition and ARVs

• DdI’s absorption reduced by ~55% with food• Indinivair’s absorption is reduced 84% with food. • Food may increase the absorption of Saquinavir by

200%. • Grapefruit juice, increase absorption of Saquinavir by

40-100% ( inhibition of enzyme CYP3A4, which is responsible for its metabolism).

• Taking indinavir with a high fat meal reduces its absorption by about 77%.

• Indinavir taken in combination with ritonavir, food has no effect on the absorption of indinavir and it may be taken irrespective of meals.

ARV Therapy in PregnancySource: WHO• Eligibility criteria for starting HAART in

pregnancy will not differ from other adults • Default first-line regimen for all women will

include nevirapine. Avoid efavirenz.• All pregnant women with a CD4 <200

cells/mm3 should be started on ARVs after the first trimester

ARV Therapy in Pregnancy cont

• Pregnant women with CD4 counts between 200 and 350 CD4 cells/mm3 should be strongly considered for initiation of HAART after the 1st trimester, with therapy to be continued for life.

• Women who become pregnant while on ARVs should continue therapy without interruption, including during the first trimester.

• For pregnant women who test HIV-positive during labour, single-dose nevirapine will be used for PMTCT per guidelines.

Pediatric ART

HIV in Children & Adults is not the same • Control of viral replication in younger children

is poor due to immature immune systems– Higher levels of HIV RNA reached(2mths) persist for

1yr. Decline over next few yrs.• Infants have a substantial risk of developing

AIDS even with high CD4 values• In contrast to adults, immunologic & virologic

predictors of progression in asymptomatic HIV-infected children and infants, are not well defined

• Current surrogate markers are not specific enough to differentiate slow progressors from rapid progressors in childhood

Children Under-represented in ART programs• Of 12,000 patients on HAART in MSF Programs

only 700 (6%) Children below 15 years• Mombasa RPM Plus/FHI and Horizons program

(August 2004) Adults 186 Children 14 (7.5%)• Namibia (August 2004) Adults 1679 Children

166 (9%)• Haiti 7.2% used for projection.• Vietnam 5% used for projection• WHO 3x5 targets aim at 10-15% of patients on

ART as infants and Children

Clinical, Psychosocial, Programmatic Obstacles for Paediatric ART • Obstacles to testing children for HIV• Lack of expertise on paediatric ARV management, especially

‘when to start’: – Clinical staging non-specific– Prognostic tests poor in young children– Logistics of family clinic approach

• ART Availability– Cost of individual drugs– Lack of appropriate paediatric formulations and Fixed Dose

Combinations– Not a priority for pharmaceutical companies

• Lack of advocates for children

Obstacles to HIV Testing in Children• By families and care-givers

– fear, stigma, other priorities (Diagnosis of HIV in a child usually implies the mother is infected even if she is well)

• By health professionals– lack expertise to recognise clinical HIV– see no benefit in testing– lack counselling expertise for families

• Lack of diagnostic tests for young children under 18 months (PCR for firm diagnosis)

• Disclosure issues (older children)

Obstacles in Clinical Management• Decision when to start ART

– lack of good laboratory predictors of HIV progression in younger children

– Laboratory tests for prediction scarce

• Differences in disease patterns in resource-poor settings

– Lack of specificity of many conditions (new 4-stage WHO guide coming up)

• More overlap with commonly seen infectious diseases

• Major effect of malnutrition (predicts mortality independent of CD4 counts)

Antiretroviral Drugs for Children

• Lack of affordable and appropriate antiretroviral drugs and formulations for Children

• Lack of expertise among health workers to deliver care

• As in most areas of medicine availability of treatments for children lags behind that for adults

– Lack of incentives to manufacture pediatric formulations – Difficulties (perceived and real) in undertaking research in

children– Lack of pediatric research expertise among health

professionals– Practical difficulties in making and testing appropriate

formulations drugs for children

Obstacles for Pharmaceutical Companies• Big Pharma:

– No financial incentives to develop Ped. Formulations (market small and largely in developing world)

– Regulatory and prequalification procedures: perceived high risk of doing research in children discourages production of pediatric ART

– Extension of patent (carrot by FDA); Big stick (failure to grant adult licence-being proposed by EU)

• Generic Companies:– Also need a business case– Lack of expertise and research ‘know-how’– Pre-qualification issues

• Demand Forecasting

Obstacles - Pre-Qualification

• “National and or international regulatory and prequalification procedures may discourage the production of specific paediatric ART formulations”

• WHO requirements – Shelf-life studies– Dissolution studies– Bio-equivalence Studies – PK studies in children

Some Barriers to Adherence in Children• Lack of liquid formulations of some drugs• High volume• Poor palatability• High pill burden• Frequent daily dosing requirements• Dietary restrictions and toxicity.• Stigma issues: disclosure to family, friends,

school• Adherence depends on caregivers (usually old

grandparents)

Challenges

• Appropriate simple ART formulations and combinations relevant to resource–poor settings urgently needed

– Industry interest and accelerated PK research

• Integration of adult and paediatric treatment and care: FAMILY APPROACH

• Applying and Scaling-up what we already know:– Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis– Nutritional support

• Training in paediatric and family-based care for HIV• Strengthen links between access to treatment and

operational research to answer important questions about natural history and response to ART

3WHO, Dept. Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy

Strategies to Improve Use of Drugs3

Economic: Offer incentives– Institutions– Providers and patients

Managerial: Guide clinical

practice– Information

systems/STGs– Drug supply / lab

capacity

Regulatory: Restrict choices– Market or practice

controls– Enforcement

Use of Medicine

s

Educational: Inform or persuade– Health providers– Consumers

To Achieve Optimal Treatment Outcomes, Patients Need to:• Understand the diagnosis and correctly

assess its potential impact• Be interested in their health and believe in

the efficacy of the prescribed treatment• Find ways of using the medication that are

not more troublesome than the disease

1. EXAMINEMeasure Existing

Practices(Descriptive

Quantitative Studies)

2. DIAGNOSEIdentify Specific

Problems & Causes(In-depth Quantitative & Qualitative Studies)

3. TREATDesign & Implement

Interventions (Collect Data to

Measure Outcomes)

4. FOLLOW UPMeasure Changes

in Outcomes (Quantitative & Qualitative

Evaluation)

improveintervention

improvediagnosis

Changing a Drug Use Problem: An Overview of the Process

Drug Procurement

Drug Procurement and Rational Drug Use: What is the influence of one on another?

Rational Drug Use

•Drug Quality Problems•Unreliable suppliers•Poor forecasting/bad quantifications•Inefficient distribution system•Poor inventory Management

•Incomplete/incorrect patient record keeping•Inadequate dispensing•Bad counseling•Irrational Prescriptions•Incorrect Diagnosis•Absence of Formulary•Absence of STG

A multi-disciplinary team work is required to achieve Rational ARV Use !!!

Doctor

PharmacistCounselor / Treatment supporter

NurseCommunity