Mohammad Bashaar

A qualitative study exploring perceptions and attitudes of community pharmacists about extended pharmacy services in Lahore, Pakistan

BackgroundIn recent decades, community pharmacies reported a change of business model, whereby a shift from traditional services to the provision of extended roles was observed. However, such delivery of extended pharmacy services (EPS) is reported from the developed world, and there is scarcity of information from the developing nations. Within this context, the present study was aimed to explore knowledge, perception and attitude of community pharmacists (CPs) about EPS and their readiness and acceptance for practice change in the city of Lahore, Pakistan.MethodsA qualitative approach was used to gain an in-depth knowledge of the issues. By using a semi-structured interview guide, 12 CPs practicing in the city of Lahore, Pakistan were conveniently selected. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and were then analyzed for thematic contents by the standard content analysis framework.ResultsThematic content analysis yielded five major themes. (1) Familiarity with EPS, (2) current practice of EPS, (3) training needed to provide EPS, (4) acceptance of EPS and (5) barriers toward EPS. Majority of the CPs were unaware of EPS and only a handful had the concept of extended services. Although majority of our study respondents were unaware of pharmaceutical care, they were ready to accept practice change if provided with the required skills and training. Lack of personal knowledge, poor public awareness, inadequate physician-pharmacist collaboration and deprived salary structures were reported as barriers towards the provision of EPS at the practice settings.ConclusionAlthough the study reported poor awareness towards EPS, the findings indicated a number of key themes that can be used in establishing the concept of EPS in Pakistan. Over all, CPs reported a positive attitude toward practice change provided to the support and facilitation of health and community based agencies in Pakistan.

Assessment of Medical and Pharmacy Students' Knowledge and Perceptions about Generic Medicines' Prices and Quality in Kabul-Afghanistan

Objective: This study aimed to assess medical and pharmacy students’ knowledge and perception about generic medicines’ prices and quality in Kabul Afghanistan. Method: Convenience sampling was perfomed. The sample size was determined using RAOSOFT calculator by using 95% confidence interval with a margin of error of 5%. Results: Among the calculated sample size of 255, in total 220 (response rate 86.27%), 95 pharmacy and 125 medical students agreed to participate in the survey. SPSS version 16 was used for data analysis. Overall, 67.84% of the respondents had knowledge about generic medicines, while 80.39% expressed their concern about the quality of generic medicines. During the analysis it was found that 98.2% respondents were strongly agreed that can control the cost of the treatment if generic medicines are used, and 65% of the interviewees suggested that highest patient prices of branded medicines has increased inclination towards the prescription of generic medicines. While in regards to the quality of generic medicines majority of respondents 44.8% asserted, that the safety, effectiveness and quality of generics is their major concerns. Conclusion: The current study emphasizes that awareness and knowledge about generic medicines is required. Concerns about the quality and prices of generic medicines should be addressed to ensure the access of safe and cost-effective generic medicines.

Community pharmacists? perception towards the quality and prices of locally manufactured generic medicine in Kabul - Afghanistan

W an objective to assess the perception of community pharmacists towards the quality and prices of locally manufactured medicine in Kabul, Afghanistan a cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of n=198 community pharmacists was approached in Kabul city to participate in the survey. Most of the pharmacists n=140 (70.7%), had 11-20 years of pharmacy practice in the community. As Afghanistan’s pharmaceutical sector depends on imported medicines, we found that, n=91 (45.90%) pharmacists chose Abbot, GSK and Getz (Pakistani pharmaceutical company), n=46 (23.2%) pharmacists chose Exir (Iranian pharmaceutical company) to obtain their medicine and, n=31 (15.7%) of pharmacists chose to obtain locally manufactured medicines. When the community pharmacists asked, that locally manufactured generics are equal in their quality compared to the imported generics, about 50.50% of the respondents have shown their disagreement and, 50% have shown their agreement. Results depict that 70.70% of the respondents believed that manufacturers of local generic products have a reliable logistic and drug delivery system and 50% of the respondents preferred to stock and dispense locally manufactured generics because the companies provide a good bonus scheme. Importantly, 80.8 % of the respondents believed that credibility is their concern when stocking medicines in their pharmacy and warehouses. Majority 90.40% of the respondents suggested that the Afghan government need to convince pharmacists that registered locally manufactured generics are of high quality and standards.