CYBELE: AN AID IN CLINICAL PHARMACY PRACTICE

Medication is prescribed in 86% of pregnancies and in 79% during labour (WHO, 1991). Pharmacists who want to give advice need easy access to sources of information.

‘Cybele’ has been launched in Belgium as a supportive tool in medical and pharmacy practice

The data base contains most of the DCI drug names commercialised in Europe.

Starting from the title page the user gets:

• A search instrument on chemical name
• A lexicon related to pregnancy and lactation
• An index of the system.

Clicking on a drug substance opens the page of the corresponding monograph. This monograph contains:

• An overview table of the substance requested
  • A code for each trimester and the perinatal and breast feeding period.
  • An explanation of the codes.
• A table with an overview of the risks related to all the agents belonging to the same therapeutic class.
• Risk assessment during pregnancy according to international standards: FDA (USA), FASS (Sweden) and ADEC (Australia) + explanation of the codes used.
• Information on breast feeding according to the FDA standards.
• A short text giving information about the risks during pregnancy and lactation with literature references quoted.

‘Cybele’ is currently available in French and Dutch.

Both versions are offered in the Research Centre for Pharmaceutical Care and Pharmaco-Economics platform of the K.U. Leuven , with the purpose to look for partnerships in order to compare ‘Cybele’ with possible existing databases in other countries, translate the database in English and other European languages and to update it with information from international sources. An ad hoc working party can be installed.

Click here for the French version.
Click here for the Dutch version.

Suggestions, willingness to co-operate and correspondence can be sent to Prof. Gert Laekeman through the ESCP International Office through info@escpweb.org