Dear Academicians,

Practicing pediatricians often needs to quickly ascertain or confirm, for a drug under prescription, the dosage, contraindications, toxicity, adjustment in renal disease, or compatibility with lactation. Thus, there is a felt need for a handy and easily browsable reference. Rational drug therapy also remains another concern. IAP Drug Formulary in this regard fulfills an important area in pediatric practice and provides state of the art information on drugs. Participation of subspecialty chapters of IAP ensures quality of the content. Formulary now contains IAP recommendations for 555 pediatric illnesses contributed by respective sub specialty chapters, 609 Monographs of drugs used exclusively in pediatric therapeutics, 1099 brand names of drugs available in India; e-newsletter is sent to 4122 active email ID's present in database.

Unique features of this pediatric drug formulary are its quarterly web updates, free of cost. This is the only formulary in the world with such a facility. There are now about 3500 satisfied users of this Book and CD.

Under Presidential Action Plan in 2009, new edition of the book - IAP Drug Formulary 2009 - will come out with better quality print to make it more users friendly and as a service to all PDA users, an Online Desktop and PDA version of the IAP Drug Formulary will be made available. The Online version will allow anyone anywhere in the world to access the IAP Drug Formulary. There is a great potential that through this book, CD and its online version, IAP would be able to provide service to pediatric care at a global level, especially in developing countries. I take this opportunity to congratulate Dr Jeeson C Unni, Editor-in-Chief of the book for his devotion and IAP CMIC for support towards maintaining the International Standard of the IAP Drug Formulary.

I wish the new edition of the book, the Online version and all the fresh updates - a resounding success.

Dr Panna Choudhury
National IAP President 2009

Dear colleagues, ,

I am overjoyed with the functioning of the IAP Drug Formulary's novel web updates. I am extremely happy that the IAP Drug Formulary has become an asset to paediatricians in our country. The proposed Web updates had caught my attention. These updates are being made available, free of cost, to all our esteemed users as IAP Executive Board considers this as a service to paediatric care in our country. This quarterly web publication of the IAP is possibly the first drug formulary in the world that provides such a facility.

Since all Sub Chapters of IAP are involved in contributing drug therapy pertaining to their respective specialty, it was bound to become a worthwhile document. The fact that around 2500 paediatricians are already using the Book and CD and regularly availing of the 3 monthly Web updates, confirms the popularity of the IAP Drug Formulary.

IAP has always promoted ethical and rational drug therapy (evidence based) in pediatric care and this publication - a prestigious publication of IAP and IAP CMIC will continue to serve as a guideline for years to come in this endeavour.

I must congratulate Dr Jeeson Unni for his dedication towards maintaining the International Standard of the IAP Drug Formulary. The IAP CMIC is doing a good job and making its presence felt by its various endeavours - COPP, IAP Pediatric Software and this one - all are very useful - I wish IAP CMIC to continue working with a missionary zeal with the able leadership of Dr CP Bansal as its Chairperson and Dr Satish Pandya as its Secretary.

I from core of my heart wish the program all the very best.

With warm personal regards,

Dr R.K. AGRAWAL
IAP President 2008

Dear colleagues, ,

I am extremely happy that the IAP Drug Formulary has become an asset to pediatricians in our country. I was the Chairperson of IAP CMEG when Dr Jeeson Unni, the then Secretary IAP CMEG, proposed this project. The proposed Web updates had caught my attention. It meant that the Formulary would be an ongoing activity of IAP and IAP CMEG. Pediatricians would get the latest information on pediatric therapeutics and, since all Sub Chapters of IAP were involved in contributing drug therapy pertaining to their respective specialty, it was bound to become a worthwhile document. The fact that around 2500 pediatricians are already using the Book and CD and regularly availing of the 3 monthly Web updates, confirms the popularity of the IAP Drug Formulary.

I wish to congratulate and thank Dr Jeeson Unni for his single-minded dedication towards maintaining the International Standard of the IAP Drug Formulary. I request all IAP Sub Specailty Chapter office bearers to regularly contribute their time and expertise to ensure the high quality of the data. Each IAP Sub Chapter needs to appoint a IAP Drug Formulary Convenor to ensure its periodic contribution to the program.

I wish the IAP Drug Formulary Web Update 2007 (4) (fourth update for this year and the 8th web update to date) - 9th Edition all success.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Naveen Thacker,
IAP President 2007

Dear colleagues, ,

I am overjoyed with the functioning of the IAP Drug Formulary's novel web updates. The first update downloaded smoothly onto our hard discs and that has given us the confidence to suggest quarterly updates this year. The first of these updates is due and I am certain IAPians are waiting eagerly for all the authoritative information on pediatric therapeutics that is provided in these pages. I must congratulate Dr Jeeson C Unni for the effort and CMEG for their support in making this endeavor - an official publication of IAP - a huge success.

I wish the program all the very best.

With warm personal regards,

Dr Nitin Shah,
IAP President 2006

Dear colleagues, ,

I am extremely happy that the proposed web update to the IAP Drug Formulary is being launched this year. This pediatric drug formulary has become an important accessory for every IAP member and practicing pediatrician who has had the good fortune of owning one. This would be its first update and all the users, I'm sure, are looking forward to using this new technology of downloading updates on to ones hard disc.

A unique feature of this year's edition is our association with the National Neonatology Forum. The Neonatology Sub Chapter of the IAP has teamed up with office bearers of the NNF in formulating the IAP recommendations for Drug Therapy in the Neonatology. This update will also include 2 new chapters - Dermatology and Intensive Care - wherein IAP recommendations in these two specialties will be detailed for the first time. Updates on a few other IAP recommendations and information on the latest and those not included in the first edition will also be made available.

I congratulate Dr Jeeson and his team for this excellent work. Any ongoing project requires continuous professional inputs. I am very happy and would like to compliment office bearers of all the sub-specialty chapters of IAP for their help.

I wish this official publication of the IAP all the very best.

Yours in academy,

Dr Raju Shah,
President, IAP 2005.

Dear colleagues, ,

I am extremely happy that the Pediatric Drug Formulary CDRom and Book - one of the prestigious projects that I had selected for the Presidential Action Plan this year - is to be released at the XXXXIInd IAP National Conference, Pedicon 2005, at Kolkota.

IAP has always promoted ethical and rational drug therapy in pediatric care and this excellent compilation will serve as a guideline for years to come in this endeavour.

The proposal to make it a continuing agenda, with updates once a year and that too, through the web, had caught my imagination when the proposal was first brought to my notice. The task also sets up the possibility of having IAP recommended treatment protocols for every pediatric illness in the book and that is a dream come true. Committees, over the years, could use the data provided in this book as a baseline to formulate fresh guidelines every year.

The value of this book is due to the eminence of its contributors who have shared with us the knowledge they have acquired with years of practice in their specialty. The concept of utilising the expertise of successive office bearers of the respective IAP sub-specialty chapters for updating the formulary ensures a fresh look at the presentation of the information provided in the book and the CDRom.

The IAP CMEG has made its presence felt with this project and our sincere appreciation goes wholly to Dr Jeeson C Unni who conceived and implemented this herculean task with aplomb.

Dr M K C Nair
IAP President 2004
Director, Child Development Centre,
Thruvananthapuram