United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Central America and the Caribbean

Workshop on the guide for the rational use of controlled drugs

Panama, 21 August 2019. Within the framework of the project GLOK67 "Access to controlled substances for medical purposes", the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Central America and the Caribbean in Panama (UNODC - ROPAN) sponsored a workshop on the socialization of the new guide to the rational use of controlled medicines of the Ministry of Health.

The objective of the training is to define criteria for the rational use of controlled drugs more frequently prescribed, dispensed and administered by health professionals.

The event was attended by 45 officials from the Ministry of Health, the Social Security Fund, hospitals and universities of the province of Panama, who benefited from the knowledge acquired.

This guide, prepared by the National Palliative Care Program, presents good practices in prescribing, dispensing and administering controlled drugs and relevant information on each group of controlled drugs.

The guide should be used from undergraduate training and in the induction of health professionals (doctors, nurses and pharmacists) for the application of criteria for the rational use of controlled drugs with a focus on primary care in humans.

This same workshop was replicated in the cities of Santiago de Veraguas and later in David, Chiriquí.