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Health Policy and Planning; 6(2): 141-147
© 1991

review-article

How useful are Pharmaceuticals in managing diarrhoeal diseases in developing countries?

STEWART HARRIS1 and ROBERT E BLACK2

1Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital, University of Toronto Canada
2Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Maryland, USA

Correspondence: Robert E Black, Professor and Chairman, Department of International Health, School of Hygiene and Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA

Diarrhoea can be effectively and inexpensively managed with oral rehydration solution and adequate dietary intake. However, this frequent and potentially life-threatening illness is commonly mismanaged with Pharmaceuticals of no proven efficacy. Antimicrobial therapy, instead of being limited to the few specifically indicated conditions, is widely used, exposing patients to a risk of side-effects and contributing to the development of resistance to antibiotics in bacterial pathogens. The so-called ‘antidiarrhoeal’ drugs are in fact ineffective and potentially harmful and are not indicated in management of acute diarrhoea. Pharmaceuticals are often prescribed and purchased, even in developing countries where people can ill afford expensive and unnecessary therapies. This wasteful mismanagement should be corrected by enforcement of essential drug policies, through training and education on proper therapy, and by promotion of effective oral rehydration therapy.


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