The Drug Information Center (DIC) at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH) was established in 27 May 2009 at the premises of TASH. The launching of the DIC was a colorful ceremony and had been attended by Professor Andreas Eshete, President of Addis Ababa university (AAU), and a number of AAU officials, Deans, and Department heads as well as local and international stakeholders in the field of pharmacy education and training. The service was made possible with the financial support from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and CDC/Ethiopia through the American International Health Alliance (AIHA)-Twining Center as well as from the World Bank. A technical support has been obtained from Howard University, through a partnership formed between the two Universities. The DIC service at TASH has been temporarily suspended due to problems related to location change. However, with the deployment of the new pharmacists trained in the new patient centered pharmacy curriculum and drug information, the DIC has resumed its services more than ever. The DIC is equipped with the latest drug information databases together with reference books, and serves as an invaluable resource for health care professionals. Some of the services provided by the DIC staff include, among others, responding to queries related to drug therapy of diseases; drug therapy in special populations; adverse drug reactions; drug interactions; pharmacodynamics; pharmacokinetics; pharmaco-genomics, and the social use of drugs. Users of DIC services are expected to include healthcare professionals, patients, the pharmaceutical industry, health policy makers, academic health departments, hospital administrators, and researchers. Queries can be posed via different modalities, including telephone, e-mail, website, or walk-in.
