An evaluation of the knowledge and utilization of the essential medicines list among health professionals in a tertiary institution in South-South, Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: The concept of essential drugs is based on the premise that a limited number of effective, safe, high quality, reasonably priced drugs are capable of satisfying the priority health care needs of the majority of the population. The Essential Medicines list is intended for use across the three levels of the health care system to promote higher quality care, better management of medicines and a more cost-effective use of available health resources. This study assessed the current status, understanding and level of penetration of the concept amongst the health care providers in a tertiary healthcare facility in South-South, Nigeria, after four decades of its introduction.
Methods: It is a cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted between January and July 2017..
Results: A response rate of 92.7% (278/300) was obtained for questionnaires distributed More than half of the respondents were doctors (176; 63.3%). Nurses and pharmacists were 77(27.7%) and 24(8.6%) respectively. The mean age of the respondents was 34.8 ± 7.3. Males and females were almost equal in this study (males 47.1%, females 49.6%). There was significant awareness of the EML among all the health professionals (p=0.001). Pharmacist had better understanding of the concept of the EML document (p=0.001) and also exhibited a positive attitude in making use of the document in their daily practice (p<0.001) when compared with the doctors and nurses.
Conclusion: This study found a high level of awareness of the EML among the health professionals, however it did not translate to their knowledge and utilization of the document.

Key words: Essential medicines list, Health professionals, Nigeria