A study on development and evaluation of a paediatric formulary in a tertiary care hospital

“The formulary is a continually revised compilation of pharmaceuticals, which reflects the current clinical
judgment of the medical staffs including physicians, pharmacist and nurses and other experts in the diagnosis,
prophylaxis, or treatment of disease and promotion of health”. The paediatric formulary is the formulary of
paediatric medicines approved by Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee for use in the Hospital. It helps to
rationalize the therapy for children. Present study involved development of a formulary for the hospital and
comparing it with the list of WHO Model Formulary, National Essential List of Medicine. The monograph
contents were compared with National Formulary of India, British National Formulary and WHO Model
Formulary. Prepared hospital formulary consisted of 84 generic drugs of various categories and 5 fixed dose
combinations. Availability of brands varied from single to many. Monographs were prepared for all the selected
84 drugs in the hospital pharmacy with the following contents: Therapeutic category, Indication,
Contraindications, Precautions/Warnings, Adverse reactions, Paediatric Dosage, Pregnancy, Drug interactions,
Brands available. The prepared formulary was compared with WHO and IAP drug formulary on various
parameters involved in formularies. This formulary promotes the safe and effective use of medicines