Availability of psychiatric medication in an urban area of The Gambia/West Africa

AbstractThe use of a wide and differentiated arsenal of psychopharmacological substances is integral part of modern psychiatric treatment in addition to non-pharmacological interventions (e.g., psychotherapy). However, worldwide the access to such medication can vary considerably. In this study, access to a wide range of psychiatric medication including antidepressants, antipsychotics, tranquilisers, mood stabilisers and ADHD medication was analysed for the Western African country of The Gambia by surveying private pharmacies within the urban and sub-urban areas of Banjul, the country's capital. The results show that most of these pharmacies tend to keep a very limited range of psychiatric drugs in stock. In many instances only a tricyclic antidepressant (e.g., amitriptyline), the neuroleptic haloperidol and the benzodiazepine diazepam were readily available. None of the pharmacies kept ADHD medication in stock, and only very few had mood stabilisers. However, several pharmacies reported to be able to obt...