New BNF published plus pull-out poster
The new edition of the British National Formulary (BNF 46) — to be published on 10 September — highlights those drugs that are having their names changed from British Approved Names (BANs) to recommended International Non-Proprietary Names (rINNs) at the end of the year (PJ,
5 July, p4). The aim is to make the transition to new names as safe as
possible.
To help pharmacists recognise the new system, there is a pull-out poster
in the centre of this issue of The Journal. Dinesh Mehta, Executive Editor
of the BNF, hopes that pharmacists will display the poster on the walls
of their dispensaries or pharmacy departments so that they have easy
access to the list of new names.
The new edition of the BNF also contains warnings to travellers to some
parts of Africa. Following a recent outbreak of meningococcal disease
in Burkina Faso, the new edition points out that travellers may not be
fully protected and includes changes to the vaccination advice. It also
includes useful contact details of centres that provide health care professionals
with advice on travel.
Advice on prescription writing is also provided. For instance, to avoid
dosing errors, BNF 46 recommends that units should not be abbreviated.
National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance on cancer treatment
and updated information on antibacterial drugs has also been added to
this edition.
“As ever, a huge amount of work has gone into this new edition
so that health professionals at all levels can rely on the BNF to keep
themselves
up to date on the best treatment options for their patients,” says
Professor Martin Kendall, chairman of the BNF Joint Formulary Committee.
“As part of our digital development, we have also been testing
the BNF on personal hand-held computers and a Pocket PC version is being
developed.
This should help to provide real support for doctors facing difficult
prescribing decisions in any situation.”
Pull-out poster after p306 (PDF 40K) |
