The Joint Research Initiative on Improving the Use of Medicines (JRIIUM), with RPM Plus as a partner, is working to build local capacity for scientific research on interventions aimed at improving the use of medicines in resource-poor settings. Currently, JRIIUM is stimulating research in priority areas highlighted at the First International Conference on Improving Use of Medicines (ICIUM) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 1997.

RPM Plus has collaborated with the International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD), WHO’s Department of Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy (WHO/EDM), the Applied Research on Child Health (ARCH) Project, the Boston University School of Public Health Center for International Health and Development, and the Harvard University Medical School Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention to provide technical and financial support to researchers. JRIIUM research consists of three phases: Phase I, improving the prescribing and dispensing behavior of primary care health providers; Phase II, improving the use of antimicrobials in communities and households; and Phase III, identifying, strengthening, and scaling up specific, effective policies at the national, district, and local levels for improving the use of antimicrobials.

Since 2000, RPM Plus has funded nine research projects in Kenya, Moldova, Nepal, Thailand, Uganda, and Vietnam. Results from most of these studies were presented at ICIUM 2004. Presentations detailing these results are available on the ICIUM website. The results are also being disseminated to in-country target audiences through various local and national channels, helping to set country agendas for policy implementation. All studies either have been or will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals for publication.