Key Areas of Research & Education Relevant to

Pharmacy & Public Health

Andy Stergachis, PhD, RPh

Schools of Public Health and Pharmacy

University of Washington

stergach@uw.edu

Commentary

• Illustrate relevance to academics– Research– Teaching– Service

Globally, medicines are among the most important health interventions

• Medicines-Related “Best Buys” in Health:– Vaccinate children– Prevent and treat childhood pneumonia, diarrhea,

and malaria– Attack the spread of HIV, including providing

antiretroviral medications– Treat persons with tuberculosis

Disease Control Priorities Project, www.dcp2.org

Why do we spend so much to get so little?*Research: U.S.

• Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) at the UW:

– Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program

– Comparative Effectiveness Training Grants

– Centers for Comparative and Health Systems Effectiveness (CHASE) Alliance

*Murray CJL, Frenk J. Ranking 37th — Measuring the Performance of the U.S. Health Care SystemNEJM. 2010 Jan 14; 362:98–99

Probability of Death for Boys and Men 15 to 60 Years of Age, 1970–2007

Substantial, albeit varied, progress has been made towards improving maternal health*

*Rajaratnam JK, et al. Worldwide mortality in men and women aged 15–59 years from 1970 to 2010: a systematic analysis. Lancet. 2010 Apr 30; 375:1704–20

Malaria in Pregnancy ConsortiumResearch: Global

• Focus:

– Prevention

– Treatment

– Burden assessment

– Scale-up

• 43 Partners; 23 countries

• Cross-cutting activities include pharmacovigilance

Global Health PharmacyTeaching

Professional Degree:

• Overview course– Cross-Listed

• In-Depth short courses• In-country experiences

Graduate/Post-Graduate:• Risk of anemia associated with

HAART in Namibia• Factors associated with

prevention of pregnancy malaria in Uganda

• Attrition from HIV clinics in Mozambique

• Cost-effectiveness of pharmacy refill program at an ARV clinic in Uganda

StrengtheningPharmaceutical SystemsService

1.Improve governance in the pharmaceutical sector 2.Strengthen pharmaceutical management systems to support public health services 3.Contain the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance 4.Expand access to and improved use of essential medicines

StrengtheningPharmaceutical SystemsService

• Trainings– Ethiopia, Rwanda,

Vietnam, Namibia• Concept Papers• Protocol Development• Technical Assistance• Pharmacovigilance

Projects

Global MedicinesPolicy & Research Program

• Advance the research methods and the evidence-base for global medicines use, safety, benefits, and pharmacy practice.

• Provide advanced training in global medicines research and policy, including pharmacovigilance, benefit-risk, pharmaceutical care, and cost-effectiveness analyses.

• Provide service by widely disseminate global medicines research and policy methods, results, and tools and strengthen such capacities.

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply.

Willing is not enough; we must do.”

—Goethe