Abstract

Babalola C. P.*, Awoleye S. A., Akinyemi J. O. and Kotila O. A

Drug therapy is the most commonly used method of any disease treatment in general practice. However, the patterns of drug prescription are often inappropriate and the need for registration of these patterns is essential in an effort to improve prescription standards. Retrospective analysis of prescriptions written by various cadres in primary health care department with emphasis on primary health care centers, dispensaries and health posts in four randomly selected local government areas were collected over a period of one year (March 2006 to February 2007). Data was collected using a standardized WHO instrument for studies of rational drug use. The average number of drugs per encounter was 6.11 with 69.81% drugs prescribed by generic names. The use of antibiotics (50.10% of encounters) and injections (72.70% of encounters) was relatively high. About ninety four percent(94%) of drugs prescribed were from the essential drugs list. It is obvious that poly pharmacy is high at the grassroots level coupled with shortage of high skilled manpower. The use of antibiotics and injections is also very high. Recruitment of skilled personnel and continuing educational programs for primary health care workers is recommended.