Improving access to quality medicines and pharmaceutical services is an essential component of the health services strategy to improve clinical care. Most leading causes of death and disability in developing countries can be prevented, treated, or at least alleviated with cost-effective essential medicines. Despite this fact, hundreds of millions of people do not have regular access to essential medicines and many of those who do have access are given the wrong treatment, receive too little medicine for their illness, or do not use the medicine correctly. Ensuring the availability, affordability, accessibility, and appropriate use of quality medicines are thus crucially important in order to improve health status of the population. This is a challenge for many countries, including Bangladesh.
A potential solution to addressing this challenge lies with the most commonly used source of medicines in many developing countries-the private sector drug seller. Accreditation of drug sellers was not present in Bangladesh until DGDA took the initiative during the implementation of HPNSDP. With the support from JDTAF, MSH worked with DGDA and other sector stakeholders to develop the first standards for retail medicine outlets and design and implement an accreditation program for two new levels of pharmaceutical outlets-pharmacies and medicine shops. Accreditation standards for retail drug shops in Bangladesh have been approved by the competent authority. MSH also developed the several strategies to support implementation of the standards. Realizing the importance of the continuation of the activity and the extensive relevant experience, DFID included the piloting of the approved model for accreditation of drug store sellers DFID Bangladesh is supporting the 4th HNPSP, through the, 'Better Health in Bangladesh' program for a period of five years.
The DGDA under the MOHFW is the competent drug regulatory authority of Bangladesh. This DGDA supervises and implements all prevailing drug regulations in the country and regulates all activities of, but not limited to retail drug stores. To strengthen monitoring and supervision of DGDA and also to provide a sustainable incentive for the medicine outlet owners, BHB project has a provision to develop a pharmacy management software. This pharmacy management software is a pre-requisite for the Model Pharmacy, according to the newly developed standard. In model medicine shops, this management software is preferred but not a must.