In highly urbanized areas, people are so stocked with knowledge that they think it wise to resort to self-care through self-diagnosis and self-medication without the aid of a physician. This attitude would lead to a confident feeling of an overall health status in the individual. Considering also the skyrocketing costs of drugs and consultation fees, the individual sees the economics of health care, which could suffice the health care system through self-medication promoted by () drugs, which do not need the doctor’s prescription.

Self-medication through self-diagnosis as promoted by OTC drugs has left the Filipino consumers, of varying yet comparable educational attainment, socio-economic status, and attitudes towards self-medication, no other alternative but the self-initiated and self-controlled application of skills for the promotion of health. The reduction of () risks, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and the effective use of professional health resources clearly establish the interpose between the self-diagnosing public and the licensed pharmacists, the intelligent use of available knowledge and resources as a key to effective health care.

The contribution of () to the overall health status of the people and the economics of health care are now being recognized. It stands to reason that the degree to which people engage in self-care safely and effectively, directly affects the pressures which are placed on the health care system.

In the past 30 years however, changes have occurred in the attitude of pharmacists toward their practice, and in the pharmaceutical education toward the role of pharmacists in self-medication. Many schools pf pharmacy now include an elective course on ()

is considered an indispensable component of a pharmacy student’s practical experience in internship requirement. As the public becomes more involved in self-care, it will frequently look more to the pharmacist for advice in this area. The decision (professional judgement) is the key factor in the pharmacist/patient interaction relating to advice for self-medicating patients.

Since about 1960, an increasing number of authorities and investigators have accepted the view that self-medication is unlikely to disappear. The main reasons for its persistence and for tolerating its further existence have been reviewed extensively. The main arguments usually advanced in favor of this view may however be briefly recapitulated here:

1. Self-medication is more readily (), more convenient, and in some countries still cheaper than professional help in relieving certain minor symptoms and ailments.

2. Self-medication keeps the individual ()in times when he would otherwise be quite unnecessarily indisposed by indigestion, headache, or constipation.

3. Self-medication relieves an unnecessarily () load on the medical services. 4. The need for autotherapy appears to be so great that when simple home remedies are not available, the layman will find other ways of treating himself which may be less reliable and less simple to () and direct.

However, a fairly general agreement on the fact that medical services, as they currently exist, could not probably satisfy the basic requirements because an () has been reached between spontaneous demand and commercial pressure on the one hand and official restrictions on formulation, indications, dosage, packaging, distribution, and advertising on the other.

“OTC Advertising Costs and Benefits” published in the Drug and Cosmetics Industry answers the following questions

s (a) What()does advertising OTC drug play in health care? (b) What are the () costs and social costs of OTC advertising? (c) How can()contribute to improvement in the delivery of health care? In summary, Cureton stated that advertising provides two basic functions in helping the consumer to utilize these products, and the education of the consumers on minor conditions, and the products available for such conditions

Self-medication is being practiced today with a degree of sophistication that belongs to the () ages. It is national policy for us to practice every possible precaution to () the patient on the care of drugs which require prescription orders. Nevertheless, some medicaments are available for self-medications that may not be as potent as legend drugs when compared on paper, but there is abundant evidence that they deserve to be labeled: “()” to improve understanding of the great potential of good selfmedication, when to self-medicate, and when to seek professional care.

Pharmaceutical products are eithe

are those that require a prescription from a duly licensed physician. These are the cardiovascular, hypertensive, anti-infectives, or specialty drug products. Dentists also are authorized to prescribe the appropriate ethical drug products to their patients

are heavily advertised in radio and TV programs whose target audience are mostly the middle- and lower-income brackets. Proprietary drugs also are advertised in tabloid newspapers and comics. Tri-media advertisements for proprietary drug products are deemed to be appropriate and fast in reaching the greater majority of the population.

In some cases, because of the laxity in the enactment of the Pharmacy Law and lack of monitoring authorities from the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD), these ethical drug products like antibiotics, steroids, antihypertensives and the like, are dispensed in drugstores without prescriptions, and are served similarly as () drugs

A major contributory factor to this seemingly “accepted practice” in the drug industry is the () cost of medical and dental consultations, so that for minor infections or inflammatory conditions, the patient/individual initiates self-diagnosis then self-medication by way of buying the drug product in mind, and antibiotic preparation, for example, which can easily be bought in drugstores without necessity of a prescription from a physician.

Other than tri-media advertisements, proprietary drug products are equally supported in terms of other promotion activities such as sampling, consumer sales promotions, merchandising and product displays. All these activities are intended to trigger fast recall in the minds of target consumers in terms of product trials, repeat purchase, and continued patronage vis-à-vis other drug products in the

Marketing of proprietary drug products require some amount of () and imagination because many drug products are “me-too”, imitations, “copycats”, “parity”, and practically the same in many aspects such as in formulation or active ingredient.

are those that do not require a prescription from a duly licensed physician or dentist are readily available when bought in drugstores of hospital pharmacies. These include frugs and medicines for common ailments such as analgesicantipyretics, cough-colds, vitamins, anti-diarrheals, and even antibiotics. Outside community and hospital pharmacies, OTC drugs are also available in the non-traditional markets such as groceries and supermarkets, trading and sari-sari stores.

Some OTC drug products are classified as () drugs because they continue to be prescribed by physicians and dentists in spite of its popularity and the patient’s familiarity of the brand name.