APPLICATION AND IMPLICATION OF SOCIAL PHARMACOLOGY AND MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS

Social Pharmacology is the study of how contemporary societal and cultural elements inuence the outcomes of drug use and how these aspects change in tandem with scientic progress in our society. The eld seeks to gather further information about drugs, even after they have been approved and made available commercially. It places particular emphasis on “Phase IV” clinical trials, which are the most expensive opportunities for studying medications in real-world social settings. The primary goal of social pharmacology is to assess how drugs function in genuine environments, which can signicantly differ from controlled drug development settings. By drawing upon knowledge from various health-related disciplines, social pharmacology is suggested as a strategic approach for obtaining crucial insights into drugs that have already been introduced to the market. In the past, clinical pharmacologists and therapeutic specialists have played a predominant role in advancing our comprehension of drug mechanisms and their clinical uses. Medical anthropologists on the other hand utilise different theoretical frameworks, all of which have a shared emphasis on improving the healthcare system's comprehension of how cultural, social, and biological elements impact human encounters with pain, illness, disease, distress, and recovery in a variety of settings.