Drug knowledge lacking among Indonesian public

Drug knowledge lacking among Indonesian public

Unfortunately, an apple a day is often not enough to keep the
doctor away when illness cramps your style.

Many Indonesians choose to resort to traditional medicine for
what ails them, and the herbal concoctions may indeed do the
trick for more common ailments.

But when an infection refuses to run its course, and
persistently keeps you running on low, it is probably time to
resort to a course of pharmaceutical drugs.

Only a qualified physician should prescribe treatments, and
consumers should not fall into the trap of trying to guess what
drug will suit their condition.

Allergies or contraindications for unprescribed medicine can
be fatal; what works for one patient may not be the right stuff
for a friend or relation.

One woman, given a sulfer-based drug by a well-meaning
colleague to treat a throat infection, noticed a few minutes
later that her fingers were so swollen she could barely type. Her
speech was slurred as her tongue had also swollen.

The cause -- she was allergic to sulfur drugs but had not
realized the drug's contents when the patented name of the
medicine was mentioned.

The pharmaceutical industry has suffered in the crisis, with
soaring costs of imported materials needed in their preparation.
Nevertheless, pharmaceutical firms have managed to keep their
heads above water by consolidating their core business.

Indonesian pharmaceuticals are recognized for their excellent
quality, on par with equivalent products from other countries.

During this crisis, when penny-pinching is a daily survival
skill, generic drugs are starting to come into their own.

Once unfairly and wrongly dismissed as inferior by consumers,
who based their trust on brand names alone, generics are finally
getting the respect they deserve.

Indonesian consumers, like their counterparts in other
countries, have started to realize that while the name may not be
the same, the quality of generics is.

A concerted media campaign has won over a doubting public to
the generic cause. The drive has included amusing ads pitting a
haughty society madame (Ida Kusuma) who is eventually sold on
generics by her more pragmatic acquaintance (Marissa Haque).

"Why choose anything else," the older woman sniffs at the end
of one spot after filling her generic prescription.

Industry insiders and government officials acknowledge that
public awareness of the benefits of using drug preparations to
combat illness remains poor.

Myths and stereotypes abound about side effects of using drugs
and how, in fact, to take them.

Just as there are people who adamantly refuse to pop pills
against disease, there are others who think nothing of demanding
the pharmacist hand over the drugs they believe they need.

Self-medication can be dangerous when it entails strong drugs.
Misuse of the drugs -- such as only using them until the symptoms
have subsided but not through the doctor's prescribed course --
can do more harm than good. The infection may be dormant, to
return in a decidedly more virulent form later on.