Drug utilization research describes the extent, nature and determinants of drug use in populations and aims to facilitate the more rational use of medicines. The departments of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy at the Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal are committed to promoting the more rational use of medicines. The departments run a Drug Information Center and a Pharmacovigilance Center in the teaching hospital. Over the last eight years, the departments have conducted drug utilization studies in the teaching hospital and the community. A few of these were of the intervention type and drug use was studied before and after the intervention.

Members of the departments are on the hospital Drug and Therapeutics Committee. Educational initiatives to improve prescribing have been carried out in a few instances. Restricting the number of brands in the hospital pharmacy and creation of a hospital drug list has been carried out. The impact of these initiatives has been studied only in a few cases. Generic prescribing was found to be low. The educational initiatives to improve prescribing had only limited success.