A pharmacopoeia is an official compendial publication containing medicinal products, their components and composition, thereby providing specifications and quality standards. In this thesis the... Show moreA pharmacopoeia is an official compendial publication containing medicinal products, their components and composition, thereby providing specifications and quality standards. In this thesis the results are presented of an investigation of national pharmacopoeias, six editions and revised reprints, issued in the Netherlands between 1851 and 196,6 were studied and analyzed extensively. The thread in this study was derived from the ambition of the national commissions, who were composing the Pharmacopoeias, to update the text in conformity with ‘the present state of science’.Historical and political aspects of the Netherlands in relation to the editing of the new pharmacopoeia were also described. The legal significance of these official standards was discussed. Surrounding countries issued also a pharmacopoeia on a regular base, so the international context was reviewed as well. Already in 1865 practitioners and scientists promoted the drawing of an international pharmacopoeia. In 1902 harmonization of the potency of highly effective pharmaceuticals was realized by governmental cooperation through the Brussel Convention. This initiated further cooperation between national pharmacopoeia authorities in the League of Nations, after the Second World War in the World Health Organization. In 1964 the Council of Europe published the Convention on the Elaboration of a European Pharmacopoeia. It resulted in the end of publishing independent Dutch editions of the pharmacopoeia. Show less
