A biodisponibilidade é definida pelos parâmetros de velocidade e extensão com que o fármaco atinge a circulação sistêmica a partir da forma farmacêutica, sendo uma propriedade não somente do fármaco, mas também da formulação, representando o desempenho in vivo da qualidade do medicamento. O medicamento genérico, para ser intercambiável com sua referência (geralmente o inovador registrado após comprovação de eficácia e segurança), deve ser considerado pelas autoridades regulatórias como seu equivalente terapêutico. A bioequivalência é o estudo comparativo das biodisponibilidades entre medicamentos, empregado para comprovação de equivalência terapêutica, baseada no princípio de que a similaridade dos perfis sanguíneos de concentração-tempo proporciona similares resultados quanto à eficácia e segurança. O presente trabalho compreendeu uma abordagem sobre os estudos de biodisponibilidade e bioequivalência com alimentação, com objetivo de sistematização dos fundamentos científicos e critérios normativos nacionais e internacionais, avaliação da necessidade e elaboração de diretrizes para condução destes estudos. Foi pesquisada a literatura científica sobre o tema, com ênfase nas publicações dos últimos dez anos, e também as diretrizes regulatórias nacionais e internacionais vigentes. Foram avaliados os efeitos do alimento na absorção gastrintestinal de fármacos, os fatores envolvidos na interação fármaco-alimento e os mecanismos físico-químicos e fisiológicos envolvidos. O alimento pode influenciar a absorção dos fármacos e promover aumento, retardo ou redução de absorção, devido a diferentes efeitos, por exemplo: prolongamento do tempo de esvaziamento gástrico, interação direta do fármaco com constituintes do alimento, aumento da viscosidade do conteúdo intestinal, alteração do pH, aumento do fluxo sanguíneo esplâncnico e interação com transportadores. A interação fármaco-alimento pode resultar em alterações farmacocinéticas e farmacodinâmicas. O efeito do alimento é mais significativo nas fases de absorção e metabolismo do fármaco, podendo resultar em perda de eficácia ou toxicidade. As interações fármaco-alimento são influenciadas pela natureza do alimento, constituição e quantidade da refeição, tempo entre alimentação e medicação e pela formulação. A refeição altamente gordurosa tem maior potencial de alteração da fisiologia gastrintestinal, principalmente aumentando o tempo de esvaziamento gástrico, o fluxo sanguíneo e a secreção biliar. Esses efeitos podem afetar significativamente a absorção de fármacos, sendo especialmente críticos para as formulações de liberação modificada. O efeito total do alimento na farmacocinética é resultante da interação de múltiplos efeitos relacionados ao fármaco, à formulação, à fisiologia gastrintestinal e à refeição. Devido à variabilidade e difícil previsibilidade dos efeitos do alimento sobre a velocidade e extensão de absorção dos fármacos, devem ser conduzidos estudos de efeito do alimento para novos fármacos e novas formulações. A pesquisa resultou na compilação das diretrizes para avaliação do efeito do alimento na biodisponibilidade, incluindo-se os desenhos dos estudos. É apresentado um esquema para avaliação da necessidade dos estudos de biodisponibilidade e bioequivalência, com base nas características do fármaco e nos tipos de formulações. As diretrizes para requerimento e condução dos estudos foram sistematizadas em uma proposta de guia para estudos de biodisponibilidade e bioequivalência com alimentação a ser empregado no caso de registro e alterações pós-registro para medicamentos novos, genéricos e similares no Brasil. / Bioavailability is defined by rate and extension parameters with which the drug reaches the systemic circulation from its dosage form, being not only a property of such drug, but also of the formulation, representing the in vivo quality of the medicine. In order to be interchangeable with its reference drug (usually the innovative drug registered after efficacy and safety proof), the generic drug must be considered as its therapeutic equivalent. Bioequivalence is the comparative study between drugs\' bioavailabilities, used for the proving of therapeutic equivalence, based on the principle that the similarity between blood concentration-time profiles generates similar efficacy and safety results. This work is a discussion about the food-effect bioavailability and fed bioequivalence studies, aiming at systematizing the scientific fundaments and national and international regulatory criteria, necessity evaluation and elaboration of de guidelines for studies execution. Research was done on scientific literature on the subject, with emphasis on publications over the last ten years, and also on current regulatory guidelines. The effects of food on the gastrointestinal absorption of the drugs, the factors related to the food-drug interaction and the physical-chemical and physiological mechanisms involved were evaluated. Food may influence the drug absorption and cause drug absorption increase, delay or reduction due to different factors, for example: gastric emptying time increase, direct drug interaction with food constituents, intestinal content viscosity increase, pH alterations, spleen blood flow increase and transporter interaction. The food-drug interaction may cause pharmacokinectic and pharmacodynamics alterations. Food\'s effect is most significant during the absorption and metabolic phases of the drug and may result in efficacy loss or toxicity. The food-drug interaction is influenced by the nature of the food, meal constitution and quantity, feeding and medication interval time and formulation. A high-fat meal has greater gastrointestinal physiology alteration potential, especially increasing the gastric emptying time, the blood flow and bile secretion. These effects may significantly impact the drugs\' absorption being especially critical for the modified-release formulations. Toe total food effect on pharmacokinectic is the result of the interaction of multiple effects related to the drug, the formulation, the gastrointestinal physiology and the meal. Due to its variability and the difficulty to predict the effects of food on the rate and extension of drugs\' absorption effect studies must be carried out for new drugs and new formulations. The research resulted in the compilation of the guidelines for the evaluation of food effects on bioavailability, including the studies\' designs. A scheme is presented for the evaluation of the necessity of bioavailability and bioequivalence studies based on the drug\'s characteristics and the types of formulations. The guidelines for the requirement and conduction of the studies were systematized in a guide proposal for bioavailability and bioequivalence studies of medicines with feeding to be used in the case of registration, and post-registration changes for new, generic and similar drugs in Brazil.

Esta pesquisa retrata uma experiência etnográfica sobre o consumo de medicamentos antidepressivos e ansiolíticos fornecidos por uma farmácia pública aos moradores de uma área formada por três bairros da cidade de Ribeirão Preto-SP. Esta área era formada por casas populares, casas luxuosas e por uma favela, sendo coberta pela Estratégia de Saúde da Família, com a exceção de uma parte das casas populares, a qual era formado pelas casas COHAB (Companhia Habitacional). O bairro com as casas luxuosas foi incluído somente na observação participante e na fotografia. Os motivos do consumo destes medicamentos, investigados com entrevistas abertas, observação participante, diário de campo e fotografia, são justificados através de uma remodelação e reorganização de espaços entre os moradores destes bairros, marcados por desigualdades sociais, de gênero e pela busca de diferenciação, numa hierarquia classificada entre o ideal e o indesejado através do curso de vida dos moradores. A seleção dos entrevistados foi realizada a partir dos dados da dispensação dos medicamentos psicoativos pela farmácia pública fornecedora, a qual também estava incluída na experiência etnográfica, tendo sido a dispensação dos medicamentos incluída na observação participante. O consumo de medicamentos psicoativos foi analisado a partir da ótica de seus consumidores, revelando que estariam contribuindo para perpetuar os papéis sociais frente à dinâmica social, como os relacionados ao gênero e à classe social. A pesquisa revela uma associação entre vida cotidiana e consumo de medicamentos psicoativos, destoante de um produzir saúde, esperado da relação entre serviços de saúde e população, e de uma associação entre doença e uso de medicamentos. Aprofundar questões sociais sobre o consumo de medicamentos em grupos populares poderá evitar seu uso abusivo com a função de produzir um corpo explorado quimicamente por se estender seus limites de produção, aprofundando e silenciando desigualdades sociais. O consumo de medicamentos psicoativos deve ser analisado com cautela, devendo seu consumo ser problematizado. / This research shows an ethnographic experience on the use of antidepressant and anxiolytic medicines provided by a public pharmacy to the residents of an area formed by three sectors of the city of Ribeirão Preto-SP. This area was formed by popular houses, luxury houses and a shantytown, and covered by the Family Health Strategy, with the exception of part of the popular houses, wich was formed by COHAB houses (Housing Company). The neighborhood with luxury houses was included only in a participant observation and in the photograph. The reasons for the use of the medecines, investigated with open interview, participant oservation, a field diary and photograph, are justified through a remodeling and recognization of space between the residents of these neigborhoods, marked by social inequality, gender and the search for differentiation, in a classified hierarchy between the ideal and unwanted y the life´s course of residents. The selection of interviewees was made from the data of the dispensing of psychoactive medicines by the provider public pharmacy, wich was also included in the etnographic experience, having been dispensing of medicines included in participant observation. The use of psychoactive medicines has been examined from the perspective of their consumers, revealing that they were helping to perpetuate social roles in the social dynamicsrelated to gender and social class. The research shows an association between daily life and use of psychoactive medicines, diverging from the production of health, which is waited in the relashionship between health services and population, and diverging from assocition between illness and medication use. Deepening social issues on the consumption of medecines in popular groups may prevent their abuse with the function of producing a body explored chemically because it has extended their limits of production, deepening and keeping quiet the social inequalities. The consumption of psychoactive medecines should be examined with caution, their consumption should be problematized

Esta pesquisa tem por finalidade propor um modelo de automação e padronização do processo de controle da prescrição médica e dispensação de medicamentos no Brasil, baseado no Sistema Autenticador e Transmissor (SAT) aplicado ao controle fiscal do comércio varejista e implementado no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Busca-se analisar o cenário atual de prescrição médica no país, suas características operacionais, os problemas cada vez mais frequentes ligados ao comércio irregular de medicamentos e o uso abusivo de substâncias controladas. São apresentadas as medidas adotadas para o controle do setor no Brasil, em Portugal e nos Estados Unidos da América, bem como seus requisitos e grau de operacionalização. Com base na lacuna encontrada nas ações adotadas pelo Brasil, apresenta-se a motivação do presente trabalho, a busca pelas características do cenário brasileiro e a respectiva não aderência do mesmo às propostas internacionais, principalmente pelo fato dessas demandarem infraestrutura técnica, ordenamento jurídico e disponibilidade de investimentos incompatíveis. Diante de referida necessidade, buscou-se em outras áreas um modelo de controle de processos que fosse aderente à realidade brasileira apresentada, razão pela qual uma solução encontrada foi a utilizada para o controle do comércio varejista, por meio do equipamento SAT (Sistema Autenticador Transmissor), que é responsável pela geração de Cupons Fiscais Eletrônicos. Assim, o trabalho consiste em utilizar os conceitos traçados para o modelo fiscal e adaptar às necessidades da prescrição médica, propondo um novo modelo de automação e controle do processo de prescrição e dispensa de medicamentos baseado na Receita Médica Eletrônica (RM-e). / This research aims to propose a model of automation and standardization of the process of control of medical prescription and dispensing of medicines in Brazil, based on the Authentication and Transmission System (Sistema Autenticador Transmissor - SAT) applied to the fiscal control of the retail trade and implemented in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The aim is to analyze the current scenario of medical prescription in the country, its operational characteristics, the increasingly frequent problems related to irregular drug trade and the abusive use of controlled substances. The measures adopted to control the sector in Brazil, Portugal and the United States of America, as well as their requirements and degrees of operation are presented. Based on the gap found in the actions adopted by Brazil, the motivation of the present study is the search for the characteristics of the Brazilian scenario and its non-adherence to the international proposals, mainly because they require technical infrastructure, legal order and availability Incompatible investments. In view of this need, a process control model was searched in other areas that adhered to the Brazilian reality presented, which is why a solution found was used to control the retail trade, through the SAT (Authentication and Transmission System), which is responsible for the generation of Electronic Tax Coupons. Thus, the work consists of using the concepts outlined for the fiscal model and adapting to the needs of the medical prescription, proposing a new model of automation and control of the prescription and dispensing process based on Electronic Medical Prescription (Receita Médica Eletrônica RM-e).

La question de l’accès aux médicaments fait l’objet d’une littérature importante autour de la collision entre desmodèles industriels fondés sur la protection de la propriété intellectuelle par les brevets et des systèmes de santégrevés par les prix élevés des médicaments.L’histoire de l’accès aux traitements antirétroviraux en Afrique du Sud depuis le début du XXIème siècle met enévidence le choc entre des modèles industriels fondés sur la propriété privée et la montée d’une coalition multiniveauxpromouvant le droit à la santé, choc qui atteint son paroxysme lors du très médiatisé « Procès de Pretoria »en 2000. Cette histoire traduit la difficile rencontre entre deux ordres juridiques internationaux sans pour autantfournir d’indice sur la façon dont la politique de couverture universelle en médicaments se construit concrètementen Afrique du Sud.Cette thèse élargit considérablement la question de la régulation du médicament en ne la cantonnant pas à uneexplication en termes d’opposition frontale entre une vision marchande et une vision sanitaire. L’étude de lapolitique du médicament sud-africaine trahit un écheveau de transactions entre le gouvernement et l’industrie quicontribuent à reformuler constamment les trois piliers du secteur du médicament : les systèmes de santé, lescapacités de production industrielle ainsi que les dynamiques de l’innovation.Les politiques du médicament doivent être lues à l’aune de ces interdépendances historiques et fondatrices de l’Etatcapitaliste sud-africain. La recomposition des priorités du gouvernement autour des impératifs de santé ne marquepar la rupture avec l’industrie pharmaceutique mais la reconfiguration de l’ensemble des relations entre la puissancepublique et l’industrie. L’enjeu de cette thèse est de remettre au centre les interactions entre la configuration despolitiques du médicament et la réorientation des modèles industriels pharmaceutiques. / Access to medicines has been at the core of an extensive literature. They usually highlight the collision betweenhigh-cost patented medicines promoted by industry and their increasing pressure on health spending.The timeline of access to antiretroviral treatments in South Africa since the beginning of the XXIth century castsa light on the struggles between industrial models based on private property and the rise of a multi-level coalitionwhich promotes the right to health. These struggles are epitomized by medias during the “Pretoria trial” in 2000.This case betrays the thorny encounter between two international bundles of rights without giving any clue on theconcrete construction of universal medicines coverage policy in South Africa.This thesis broadens the issue of medicines regulation by overcoming the contradictions between market and publichealth. It shows that government and industry keep strong contacts which have a deep impact on the three pillarsof the medicines sector: health systems, industrial capacities and innovation.Medicines policies emanate from these historical fundamental interdependences which are at the basis of statebuilding. The shift of governmental priorities towards public health does not entail the ostracism of pharmaceuticalindustry but the total reshaping of relations between public authorities and industry. What is at scope in this thesisare the links between the configuration of medicines policies and the mutation of pharmaceutical industrial models.

Australia�s policy on Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) aims to achieve appropriate use of medicines and improved health outcomes. Drug and Therapeutics Committees (DTCs) are educators, policy makers as well as financial gatekeepers in matters relating to medicine use. Increasingly, DTCs are also involved in risk management and clinical governance. As such, DTCs could be considered to be QUM advocates in the institutions in which they function. In a health care arena where there are escalating demands on high standards of clinical practice, quality assessment and improvement is essential in ensuring safe and effective patient care. Given the role DTCs play in safeguarding the interests of the stakeholders of the health care system, research into ways in which DTC performance could be enhanced is required. Although indicators specific to DTCs exist, the literature does not seem to provide straightforward answers to the question of what is currently being done in terms of quality assessment and quality improvement of DTCs. In the absence of such data, an opportunity for research is clearly identified. The first aim of this research project was to gain insight into the current activities undertaken by, and challenges facing Australian DTCs. Following this, the second aim was to explore ways in which DTC performance could be augmented. In addressing the first aim of this project, a national survey of Australian DTCs was conducted. These findings reinforce the evidence in the literature about the roles, structure and stakeholder expectations of DTCs. Our research also documents DTCs� quality improvement initiatives and barriers to DTC activities. It appears that there is little support available to Australian DTCs. Further, a case study was undertaken in order to gain an understanding of the depth and detail of DTC operations. An audit of a DTC in an Australian hospital was conducted. This study revealed that DTC decisions are being implemented in an ad hoc manner. In fact, there were no strategies (or action) planned to implement the majority of their decisions. This could have an impact on DTC performance. In view of this finding, qualitative methods were used to explore stakeholder opinions regarding the implementation of DTC decisions and policies. Stakeholders believed that strategies used to implement DTC policies should be targeted (to the audience as well as the type of decision/policy being implemented), timely, and delivered at the point of care. Face-to-face strategies were perceived to be more effective than printed materials, particularly when an influence on clinical practice was desired. Stakeholders also felt that the lack of resources was a significant barrier to DTC performance augmentation. This probably contributed to a lack of follow-up (or review) of implemented policies. According to stakeholders, other barriers to policy implementation include a lack of ownership of policies, low DTC profile, and an over-reliance on pharmacy to implement DTC decisions. Stakeholders felt one of the ways in which DTC performance could be improved was to prioritise DTC decisions for implementation. In pursuit of a method to prioritise DTC decisions, a survey was conducted. Stakeholders identified patient safety, cost, and the practice of evidence-based medicine as domains of important DTC decisions. The results also suggest that stakeholders recognise the need for the prioritisation of DTC decisions for implementation. Stakeholders implied that higher priority would be assigned to DTC decisions considered to be important. In a follow-up survey, stakeholders (including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and DTC members) seemed to have agreement of the primary domains of DTC decisions. Higher levels of importance and higher priority were assigned to decisions involving the primary domains of patient safety and cost. However, level of importance and priority assignment were not consistently correlated. The work presented in this thesis suggests that there are ways to improve DTC performance. Although conducted primarily on hospital-based DTCs, it is anticipated that the lessons learnt could be applied to state-based, or even, Area Health-based DTCs. In conclusion, this research found that there was a range of views regarding �importance� and prioritisation for implementation. Social, organisational, as well as environmental factors may contribute to this. Future research should examine other possible factors contributing to the importance and priority of DTC decisions, so that DTC policy could be appropriately implemented into practice.

<p>For many years pharmaceutical patents and their impact on prices have been at the centre of the international debate over insufficient access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS medicines in developing countries. The conflict has largely revolved around the implementation of an intellectual property system in the developing world, subsequent the adaptation of the TRIPS Agreement, which has made a 20 year pharmaceutical patent protection mandatory for these countries and consequently contributed to high drug prices for patented medicines as well as limited the use of generic drugs.</p><p>Developing countries, where patents are already in place, have sought to reduce high drug prices by making use of compulsory licensing, a safeguarding practice allowing the production or importation of a generic medicine without the consent of the patent holder. Compulsory licences are allowed under the TRIPS Agreement, but disagreements about the conditions, under which compulsory licences are available for ‘essential medicines’, have restricted their use. A definition of the extent to which compulsory licensees can export generic drugs to developing countries unable to manufacture their own has been missing, but on 30 August 2003 the WTO announced that it had resolved this problem by lifting the TRIPS Agreement’s restrictions on exports and permitting exports of drugs produced under a compulsory license as an exception to a patent right. The main question is whether the compulsory licensing system as prescribed in the recent Decision is an ample means of improving access to patented AIDS medicines in the developing world.</p><p>By means of legal and economic reasoning this master thesis argues that the 30 August Decision on lifting TRIPS’ restrictions on exports of patented pharmaceuticals produced under compulsory licences provides complex and uncertain rules, rendering an unreliable employment of compulsory licensing. It is desirable that further recommendations are given on which generic producing companies should be awarded compulsory licences and also on which premises. In reality, the debate about compulsory licensing is part of a much wider structural problem in development policy. The solution to the inaccessibility problem requires a mix of courses of action with a functioning compulsory licensing system included. However, disagreements such as how necessary funding should be divided equitably between developed countries could protract the reaching of a pragmatic solution.</p>

Syzygium cordatum is a medicinal plant indigenous to South Africa and Mozambique, commonly used to treat stomach aches, diabetes, respiratory problems and tuberculosis. In spite of the folklore use, adequate scientific data to credit its widespread traditional use is lacking. The objectives of this study were: to evaluate and validate scientifically the successful therapeutic claims by traditional medicine practitioners that Syzygium cordatum is effective in treating diarrhoea and diabetes / to determine the effects of the plant extract on gastrointestinal transit of a charcoal meal in mice / to determine the effects on castor oilinduced intestinal fluid accumulation / to determine the safety profile of the plant by carrying out acute toxicology study and to carry out preliminary screening of the active compounds present in the plant using standard phytochemical analytical procedures. The aqueous leaf extract of Syzygium cordatum (3.125 -50mg/kg, p.o) significantly reduced the faecal output caused by castor oil (0.7ml). All the doses used, reduced faecal output from 100% produced by castor oil to between 40 and 61%. S.cordatum (6.25 &ndash / 50mg/kg, p.o) significantly and in a dose dependent manner, delayed the onset of castor oil-induced diarrhoea.

For many years pharmaceutical patents and their impact on prices have been at the centre of the international debate over insufficient access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS medicines in developing countries. The conflict has largely revolved around the implementation of an intellectual property system in the developing world, subsequent the adaptation of the TRIPS Agreement, which has made a 20 year pharmaceutical patent protection mandatory for these countries and consequently contributed to high drug prices for patented medicines as well as limited the use of generic drugs. Developing countries, where patents are already in place, have sought to reduce high drug prices by making use of compulsory licensing, a safeguarding practice allowing the production or importation of a generic medicine without the consent of the patent holder. Compulsory licences are allowed under the TRIPS Agreement, but disagreements about the conditions, under which compulsory licences are available for ‘essential medicines’, have restricted their use. A definition of the extent to which compulsory licensees can export generic drugs to developing countries unable to manufacture their own has been missing, but on 30 August 2003 the WTO announced that it had resolved this problem by lifting the TRIPS Agreement’s restrictions on exports and permitting exports of drugs produced under a compulsory license as an exception to a patent right. The main question is whether the compulsory licensing system as prescribed in the recent Decision is an ample means of improving access to patented AIDS medicines in the developing world. By means of legal and economic reasoning this master thesis argues that the 30 August Decision on lifting TRIPS’ restrictions on exports of patented pharmaceuticals produced under compulsory licences provides complex and uncertain rules, rendering an unreliable employment of compulsory licensing. It is desirable that further recommendations are given on which generic producing companies should be awarded compulsory licences and also on which premises. In reality, the debate about compulsory licensing is part of a much wider structural problem in development policy. The solution to the inaccessibility problem requires a mix of courses of action with a functioning compulsory licensing system included. However, disagreements such as how necessary funding should be divided equitably between developed countries could protract the reaching of a pragmatic solution.

Syzygium cordatum is a medicinal plant indigenous to South Africa and Mozambique, commonly used to treat stomach aches, diabetes, respiratory problems and tuberculosis. In spite of the folklore use, adequate scientific data to credit its widespread traditional use is lacking. The objectives of this study were: to evaluate and validate scientifically the successful therapeutic claims by traditional medicine practitioners that Syzygium cordatum is effective in treating diarrhoea and diabetes / to determine the effects of the plant extract on gastrointestinal transit of a charcoal meal in mice / to determine the effects on castor oilinduced intestinal fluid accumulation / to determine the safety profile of the plant by carrying out acute toxicology study and to carry out preliminary screening of the active compounds present in the plant using standard phytochemical analytical procedures. The aqueous leaf extract of Syzygium cordatum (3.125 -50mg/kg, p.o) significantly reduced the faecal output caused by castor oil (0.7ml). All the doses used, reduced faecal output from 100% produced by castor oil to between 40 and 61%. S.cordatum (6.25 &ndash / 50mg/kg, p.o) significantly and in a dose dependent manner, delayed the onset of castor oil-induced diarrhoea.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for a Masters Degree in Tehcnology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2009. / Background: The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, perception and utilisation of vitamins and minerals, natural medicines and pharmacological agents as adjuncts to Chiropractic practice in South Africa. Method: This study was a population based cross sectional survey utilising a descriptive, quantitative questionnaire study design. The questionnaire was distributed to all practicing qualified Chiropractors (n=388) and masters Chiropractic students (n=102) in South Africa. Results: The results obtained (30.4% response rate), indicated that the majority of the respondents (62.8%) felt qualified to advise patients on vitamins and mineral supplements and had a positive view of the use of vitamins and minerals as part of Chiropractic patient management (86.6%). The majority of the practitioners were aware that topical substances are part of the scope of practice and males were nearly twice as likely as females to use them. The majority thought biopuncture should be available to Chiropractors (82%) and felt that Chiropractors should challenge the legislation to incorporate biopuncture as part of the scope of practice (77.5%). Most respondents agreed with the statement indicating that NSAIDS should be part of Chiropractic scope of practice and 71% of respondents felt that being able to use NSAIDS in non-emergency situations would enhance patient retention. This study revealed that amongst the student population the majority, if allowed, would consider administering pharmacological agents in practice (55.1%). Conclusion: A correlation exists between the perception, knowledge and utilisation of vitamins and minerals, natural medicines and pharmacological agents in the Chiropractic profession with respect to the demographic data and there is a significant difference in opinion between qualified Chiropractors and Chiropractic masters students regarding perception, knowledge and utilisation of these adjuncts to practice.