국내외 의약품 안전 및 적정사용을 위한 정책의 고찰

Review of National Policies for Safe and Appropriate Use of Medications in Korea and Selected Countries

OBJECTIVES: We investigated types of prevention policies and activities for safe and appropriate use of medications in Korea and selected countries, in order to derive suggestions for effective prevention strategies. METHODS Literature search was conducted for peer-reviewed journals and web-site of selected institutions using key words of “safe use of medication”, “drug & abuse,” and “dug & misuse.” RESULTS In Korea, major policies operated by central governments include: separation policy between drug prescribing and dispensing, drug product serial number system, re-classification of drugs, integrated management system for narcotic drugs, designation of potential drugs for misuse and abuse, assessment for appropriateness of drug use, and drug utilization review. Local governments have various activities collaborated with healthcare professional associations. In U.S.A, National Survey of Drug Use and Health is carried out annually. Japan sets national strategy to decrease drug abuse and misuse every 5 years, focusing on prevention of drug abuse among adolescents, demolition of illegal trade of drugs, cooperation with international agencies, and prevention of recurrence of drug addict. Active roles of community pharmacies are observed in European countries. Compared to Korea, most of the foreign countries require school to educate students about preventing drug abuse. CONCLUSION Several suggestions were made to improve the effectiveness of prevention strategies in Korea. First, more class hours should be assigned to educate students for drug abuse problems. Second, national survey for drug use among the public would be useful to identify potential problems of drug abuse. Third, more active role of pharmacists in community pharmacy setting would be also helpful.