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xinhua news agency reporter enhao

the state food and drug administration recently announced the third batch of pilot lists for aging-friendly and barrier-free reform of drug instructions, with 369 drugs included in the "large-character version" and "simplified version" of the instructions. netizens forwarded the relevant news one after another, praising that it reflects the continuous efforts of caring for and respecting patients.

for some time, some drug instructions have been widely criticized because their fonts are as small as grains of rice and are densely packed with technical terms and mixed with english letters. they are both unclear and unreadable.

the instructions are "enlarged" and "simplified", to put it bluntly, so that patients can see clearly and understand them. this is the basic guarantee for medication safety and effectively responds to the concerns of the masses. such a move deserves praise!

the "miniature version" of drug instructions makes many patients crazy. there were media reports that some drug instructions seemed to use "micro-engraving printing", and a grain of rice could cover four words. not to mention the elderly people who are dazzled, young people and even children can’t see clearly such instructions.

why are drug instructions printed so small? what's the problem with making the text larger?

according to industry insiders, relevant national regulations have specific requirements for drug instructions, and a lot of content must be stated. in addition to drug efficacy, usage and dosage, adverse reactions, precautions, etc. that patients are more concerned about, there are also pharmacology, toxicology, taboos, etc. this means that if you don’t want to increase the thickness of the manual, you can only make the font size of the manual smaller.

the content of drug instructions is too complicated and the expressions are too professional. for ordinary patients, the problem of reading it is like reading a bible. like the font size being too small, it is also a content that has been criticized for a long time.

the good intentions of the starting point for management regulations cannot be denied. however, what effect do you want to achieve with drug instructions with fonts as small as rice grains and frequent technical terms? don’t forget that drug instructions must be read by patients. if ordinary patients, especially elderly patients, cannot read clearly, it will seriously affect their understanding of key information such as usage, dosage, contraindications, etc., and offset the instructions that remind patients. effect.

the purpose of providing instructions is to let people who "don't understand" read "understand" and to let people who "don't understand" "read". if the instructions are unclear and unreadable, the meaning of the existence of the "instructions" will be lost, and it will also lead to waste of paper, printing, etc.

it is the common voice of patients, families and society to enhance the applicability and ease of use of drug instructions and make them as clear and understandable to patients as possible.

in october 2023, the state food and drug administration issued the "pilot work plan for the age-adapted and barrier-free reform of drug instructions" and decided to launch a pilot program for the aging-adapted and barrier-free reform of drug instructions in some oral, topical and other pharmaceutical preparations. subsequently, large-print and simplified versions of drug instructions were released one after another.

from the end of 2023 to the present, a total of 1,128 drugs in three batches have been included in the revised catalog, reflecting care, understanding and respect for patients.

the latest data shows that as of the end of 2023, my country's population aged 60 and above has reached 297 million. the aging society is accelerating, and the demand for medical treatment will inevitably increase further. pharmaceutical companies increase innovation in the content and form of instructions and actively respond to patients' needs for drug instructions, which will also help pharmaceutical companies themselves seize opportunities and accelerate development.

it is worth noting that although 1,128 drugs have been included in the instruction reform pilot, this number still has considerable room for improvement compared with the more than 3,000 drugs in the current version of the national medical insurance drug catalog.

it is understood that the drug instruction manual revision plans given by the state food and drug administration are divided into three types: "partially enlarged version", "qr code electronic version" and "abridged simplified version". which solution will be better accepted by the public remains to be tested.

in recent years, some companies have provided many new ideas around the transformation of manuals. for example, scan the qr code to obtain voice broadcast prompts and short videos of drug information to reduce patients' reading difficulties; launch interactive ai medication instructions, full-time customer service, etc. to guide patients in scientific medication use through real-time interaction.

make online platforms and new information dissemination methods more convenient for the elderly to use, such as providing products with functional features such as large fonts, large icons, and high-contrast text, introducing simple and convenient interface modes, improving dialect recognition capabilities, etc., so that the elderly can more easily enjoy more conveniences provided by informatization.

listen more to the voices of the people, solve every small matter in a down-to-earth manner, and clear away the "unadaptability" and "obstacle" bit by bit, so that the small drug instructions can convey warmer and more quality care. .