According to a 1985 World Health Organization definition, rational use of medicines requires patients to receive medications appropriate to their clinical needs, in doses that meet their individual requirements, for an adequate period of time, and at the lowest cost to them and their community.

Promoting rational medicines use has been a major tenet of the RPM project, the RPM Plus Program, and now, the SPS Program. Our initiatives to improve the use of medicines have included establishing and strengthening drug and therapeutics committees in health care institutions and working with ministries of health to promote the use of standard treatment guidelines. In addition, SPS has collaborated with MSH’s International Network for the Rational Use of Drugs Initiative on Adherence to Antiretrovirals to increase patients’ adherence to treatment for HIV/AIDS.

Many decisions about medication use take place at the community or household level, including which medicines to buy and how to take them. To complement national-level and facility-based approaches, SPS uses a variety of ways to address the community, such as using the Community Drug Management for Childhood Illness tool to characterize household and private sector access to and use of medicines. SPS also works to increase access to quality medicines and pharmaceutical services in private sector medicine outlets, where many people seek care— especially in rural areas.