Table 1 Ways in which health personnel misuse their access to pharmaceuticals for personal gain. Frequency with which each type of misuse was reported by 27 Mozambican (M) and 26 Cape Verdean (CV) respondents.
From: Pilfering for survival: how health workers use access to drugs as a coping strategy
By doctors | By pharmacists | By nurses | By orderlies | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Stealing | 5 M 6CV | 24 M 1CV | 19 M 8CV | 16 M 4CV |
Prescription of unnecessary drugs | 20 M 15 CV | 25 M 6 CV (during over the counter consultations) | 20 M, 8 CV | 17 M, 4 CV (during over-the-counter consultations) |
Unnecessary prescription of injectables | 21 M 15 CV | 3 M 11 CV | 4 M, 0CV | 0M, 1 CV |
Prescription of expensive brand names in lieu of generic drugs, particularly in private practice | 24 M 15 CV | 24 M 11 CV | 1 M, 0CV | 0M, 0CV |
Substituting prescribed brand-name drugs with generics | 4 M 16 CV | 23 M 1CV | 0M, 6 CV | 0M, 0CV |
Under-the-table payments for supplying supposedly free drugs | 24 M 16 CV | 0M, 0CV | 0M, 0CV | 0M, 0CV |
Overcharging | 4 M 2 CV | 24 M 8 CV | 0M, 4CV | 0M, 2 CV |