Casablanca – A new study examining the availability of pharmaceutical medications suitable for children under the age of 6 in Morocco has found that the North African country lacks adequate medications for children.
Entitled “Medication use in children: A survey among hospital pediatricians in Morocco,” the survey was carried out by five researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Hassan II University of Casablanca, the University Hospital of Casablanca, and the pediatrics department of the Provincial Hospital of Kalaat Sraghna.
The survey mainly analyzed the availability of appropriate pharmaceutics for children under the age of six. It also sought to assess the use of tablets in pediatric patients from the perspective of hospital doctors; calculate the frequency of modifications made to oral medications in pediatric wards, and evaluate hospital doctors’ knowledge of excipients with known side effects.
The study used an anonymous, digital self-administered questionnaire to poll a sample of Moroccan hospital pediatricians.
According to the findings, 85% of practitioners consider that several drugs needed by children under the age of six remain inaccessible in a suitable pharmaceutical form.
“Proton pump inhibitors [used to reduce gastric acid secretion] top the list of drugs not available in an appropriate form for children under 6 years of age,” explains the study.
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The study also notes that participants’ views on the age at which a child can swallow a pill were quite diverse. In this regard, “6, 8, 10 and 12 years old almost got the same number of responses,” the poll noted.
Furthermore, all practitioners agreed that the size, color, and flavor of the tablets impact their acceptability by children.
Hospital pediatricians have also remarked that these adjustments are occasionally made to simplify the administration of oral tablets to youngsters.
Finally, less than half of the participants understood the phrase “excipient with known effect,” which sensitive patients often struggle to tolerate.
Only two respondents correctly identified all of the excipients in a list of five commonly used excipients with recognized effects.
To solve the issue, the five researchers suggested that pharmaceutical companies and health authorities should “collaborate to develop dosage forms suitable for children of all ages.”
They further recommend that “solid oral forms of appropriate size and taste should also be developed and used as soon as a child can swallow them, and modifications of solid oral forms should be banned unless no other alternative is possible.”
The research also recommends training and awareness sessions for pediatricians and hospital nurses, including clinical pharmacists in the prescription of pediatric pharmaceutical medications to help overcome the issues linked with excipients’ infamous side effects.
