Researchers from Stellenbosch University (SU) have contributed to a major international study that examines how access to effective antipsychotic medication for people with schizophrenia in low- and middle-income countries can be improved.
Martin Viljoen, SU spokesperson, says the study on schizophrenia medication was published in The Lancet Psychiatry and was led by researchers from the University of Oxford as part of the GALENOS initiative. The research brings together the latest global evidence on the treatment of schizophrenia with input from experts from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa.
The researchers identified a set of priority medicines that, according to available evidence, offer the best balance between efficacy and tolerability, with the aim of improving access to treatment in these countries. Prof. Soraya Seedat, psychiatrist and researcher at SU and one of the study's authors, says the research is particularly important for South Africa because it goes beyond the question of which medicines work. The study also focuses on how people with schizophrenia can actually access these treatments within health systems.
An estimated 23 million people worldwide live with schizophrenia. Antipsychotic medicines form an important part of treatment, but access to essential medicines remains a challenge in many low- and middle-income countries due to factors including availability, affordability and access. The researchers say the recommendations can support future health policy, treatment decisions and efforts to improve the availability and affordability of essential mental health medicines in Africa and other low- and middle-income countries.
The study was funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Sources: Stellenbosch University, University of Oxford/GALENOS, The Lancet Psychiatry
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
