Abstract
Healthcare professionals want quick and easy access to practical information they need about drugs. This practical approach also applies to reimbursement agencies, hospital management and other circles who request such information. The national drug formularies provide information on drug treatment to their readers, particularly to doctors, to distinguish more effective, safer and more cost-effective medicines from others, also gives them easy access to unbiased, and up-to-date data. On the dissemination of these properties, national formularies are among recommendations for extending rational use of medicine. British National Formulary – (BNF) is one of the few national formularies that is shown as an example throughout the world with its usage and history. Taking advantage of technological opportunities of the day, BNF also expanded the area of responsibility in the passing years and has been published twice a year. Many countries other than United Kingdom also use BNF as a source of drug information, either directly or by adapting to their national conditions. In Turkey, BNF was published for the first time in 1999 as a hybrid which is adapted to national conditions. An updated 6th edition of it was published in 2011 under the name “Turkey Medication Guideline TİK-6, 2011-2012 Formulary”. BNF is maintaining its efforts to provide up-to-date data to healthcare professionals on drugs, and in return, it is highly regarded by the counterparts. With all of these positive features, BNF is being utilized as a model for countries with a national formulary needed.
Key words: Drug formulary, British National Formulary, BNF, Rational