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Thesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / Background Drugs expiration in public hospital pharmacies is a concern to health professionals as the Department of Health spends a lot of money to buy drugs. The number of drugs which expire in public hospital pharmacies can give an indication of how the drugs are used, and consequently reflect on the disease prevalence for which the drugs are indicated for. Drugs cannot be used beyond expiry date. The purpose of this study was to determine the cause or causes, extent and costs of expired drugs in public hospital pharmacies of Sekhukhune District in Limpopo Province of South Africa. Methods Sekhukhune District has seven public hospital pharmacies. Data collection involved interviews conducted by the researcher from thirty-five participants with each hospital having five participants. All interviews were recorded by the use of a laptop voice recorder. Participants in each hospital involved a pharmacy manager, an additional pharmacist who had twelve months or more working experience within the facility under study, a clinical manager, a nurse who attends the hospital Drug and Therapeutics Committee and a medical practitioner who had twelve or more working experience within the facility under study. Results and conclusion In this study it was identified that, overstocking; prescribing tendencies by medical practitioners; delivery of short-dated drugs from the supplier; poor stock rotation and unreliably minimum and maximum order levels were cited as some of the reasons for stock expiration. The study found drugs expiration value to be above the set limit of 0.05% of the expenditure in a financial year. An expired stock value of R86 815 was found based on the data collected for 2010/2011 financial year.

Antibiotic resistance in clinical bacterial isolates remains an ongoing problem requiring continuous monitoring to effect some form of control. Comparative studies have not been previously reported for the Eastern Cape Region, South Africa and this study was undertaken to monitor resistance patterns in clinical isolates from Provincial Hospital, Port Elizabeth. Over the three year period 1989 to 1991, 9888 susceptibility results from isolates examined in the SAIMR pathology laboratory were analysed and collated using a stand-alone computer program. Resistance patterns for a range of nineteen antibiotics were collated for isolates from various sampling points within the hospital. Results were reported as resistance patterns in individually isolated species. Levels of resistance in each species were compared to those reported from South Africa and abroad, and changing patterns of resistance were noted within the three year period at the Provincial Hospital, Port Elizabeth.

Elderly people, or those over 65 years of age, are known to comprise 10% of the United States population today and are projected to reach nearly 12% by the year 2000. Further, 5% of this population is reported to be institutionalized resulting in approximately 1.1 million chronic care patients or 0.5% of the population. The use of drugs in this population comprises approximately 25% of the prescription drug market in the United States which is directly related to the greater occurrence of pathological problems associated with the aging process. While it is evident that the beneficial outcome of drug therapies is partially related to the increased longevity observed in these elderly people, this population is also well-known to be the most prone to adverse drug reactions. Factors complicating drug use in the elderly include high usage, chronic therapy, long-term hospitalization, inappropriate and multiple prescribing of drugs, inadequate monitoring of adverse drug effects, susceptibility to physical deterioration and senility. Therefore, the objective of this project is to test the hypothesis that the quality and cost of drug therapy in SNF patients can be significantly improved by implementing measures to improve the utilization of drugs.

tudies in teaching and non-teaching hospitals have shown that one- quarter to one-third of all patients receive an antimicrobial (AMC) drug during their hospital stay." 1-30 Many of these patients (ranging from 30 to 60%), particularly those on the surgical services, have no definite evidence of infection. Inquiry regarding the use of AMC drugs can be traced back more than two decades. In 1961, the Commission on Professional and Hospital Activities in its Professional Activity Study (CPHA-PAS) surveyed 24 hospitals." They found that approximately 27% of all patients were given an AMC drug; however, it was estimated by PAS that only about 12% of these patients should have received AMC therapy under the most conservative medical practice.

The supply of Antiretrovirals (ARVs) to HIV/AIDS patients in most of the provinces in South Africa is hindered by various factors such as ineffective and inefficient drug procurement, and drug distribution systems. In the QwaQwa district in the Free State Province, a major barrier to the consistent supply of Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment was identified to be the lack of an effective and efficient ARV drug distribution system. This resulted in major drug supply shortages in the QwaQwa district. A continuous, uninterrupted supply of ARVs to HIV/AIDS patients is critical to avoid drug resistance and therapy failure. Failure of a patient to respond to treatment results in a deterioration of a patient's health, and ultimately leads to death. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the ARV drug distribution practices at the Manapo Hospital in the QwaQwa district were effective and efficient in the management of ARVs. The distribution practices reviewed were the ordering, transportation, the management of inventory and warehousing, and the distribution of treatment to HIV/AIDS patients. Quantitative exploratory, descriptive and contextual methods were used to determine the relationship between the ARV drug distribution practices and the effective management of the ARVs. The study comprised of a sample size of twenty-one participants. The sample size entailed the Manapo Hospital pharmacists and pharmacist assistants who have been or are currently involved in the distribution of ARVs in the QwaQwa district since the initiation of the ARV rollout programme in 2004. The study revealed that the practices performed in the management of ARVs in the QwaQwa district were neither effective nor efficient in the distribution of ARVs. The recommendations of the study were identified to further ensure the effective and efficient management of the ARV drug distribution system, which will ensure a consistent supply of treatment to HIV/AIDS patients. Guidelines were developed for better circulation, thus meeting the objectives of the research.