Pathiyil Ravi Shankar

Pharmacy practice and injection use in community pharmacies in Pokhara city, Western Nepal

BackgroundCommunity pharmacies in Nepal serve as the first point of contact for the public with the health care system and provide many services, including administering injections. However, there is a general lack of documented information on pharmacy practice and injection use in these pharmacies. This study aims to provide information about pharmacy practice in terms of service and drug information sources, and injection use, including the disposal of used injection equipment.MethodsA mixed method, cross-sectional study was conducted in 54 community pharmacies in Pokhara city. Data was collected using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire, and also by the direct observation of pharmacy premises. Interviews with pharmacy supervisors (proprietors) were also conducted to obtain additional information about certain points.ResultsInterviews were carried out with 54 pharmacy supervisors/proprietors (47 males and 7 females) with a mean age and experience of 35.54 and 11.73xa0years, respectively. Approximately a half of the studied premises were operated by legally recognized pharmaceutical personnel, while the remainder was run by people who did not have the legal authority to operate pharmacies independently. About a quarter of pharmacies were providing services such as the administration of injections, wound dressing, and laboratory and consultation services in addition to medicine dispensing and counseling services. The ‘Current Index of Medical Specialties’ was the most commonly used source for drug information. Almost two-thirds of patients visiting the pharmacies were dispensed medicines without a prescription. Tetanus Toxoid, Depot-Medroxy Progesterone Acetate, and Diclofenac were the most commonly-used/administered injections. Most of the generated waste (including sharps) was disposed of in a municipal dump without adhering to the proper procedures for the disposal of hazardous waste.ConclusionsCommunity pharmacies in Pokhara offer a wide range of services including, but not limited to, drug dispensing, counseling, dressing of wounds, and administering injections. However, the lack of qualified staff and adequate infrastructure may be compromising the quality of the services offered. Therefore, the health authorities should take the necessary measures to upgrade the qualifications of the personnel and to improve the infrastructure for the sake of good pharmacy practice and the safer use of injections.

Injection practice in Kaski district, Western Nepal: a community perspective

BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that unsafe injection practice is a major public health problem in Nepal but did not quantify the problem. The present community-based study was planned to: 1) quantify injection usage, 2) identify injection providers, 3) explore differences, if any, in injection usage and injection providers, and 4) study and compare people’s knowledge and perception about injections between the urban and rural areas of Kaski district.MethodsA descriptive, cross-sectional mixed-methods study was conducted from July to November 2012, using a questionnaire based survey and focus group discussions (FGDs). A semi-structured questionnaire advocated by the World Health Organization was modified and administered to household heads and injection receivers in selected households and the FGDs were conducted using a topic guide. The district was divided into urban and rural areas and 300 households from each area were selected. Twenty FGDs were held.ResultsIn 218 households (36.33%) [99 in urban and 119 in rural] one or more members received at least one injection. During the three month recall period, 258 subjects (10.44%) reported receiving injection(s) with a median of two injections. The average number of injections per person per year was calculated to be 2.37. Health care workers (34.8%), staff of medical dispensaries (37.7%), physicians (25.2%), and traditional healers (2.3%) were consulted by the respondents for their basic health care needs and for injections. Compared to urban respondents, more rural respondents preferred injections for fever (pu2009<u20090.001). People preferred injections due to injections being perceived by them as being powerful, fast-acting, and longer lasting than oral pills. More than 82% of respondents were aware of, and named, at least one disease transmitted by using unsterile syringes during injection administration or when syringes are shared between people.ConclusionsLess preference for injections and high awareness about the association between injections and injection-borne infections among the general population is encouraging for safe injection practice. However, respondents were not aware of the importance of having qualified injection providers for safe injections and were receiving injections from unqualified personnel.

Injection practices in Nepal: health policymakers’ perceptions

BackgroundThe unnecessary and unsafe use of injections is common in developing countries like Nepal. Policymakers have an important role in promoting rational and safe injection use. Hence, the present study was carried out to explore the perception of health policymakers regarding safe injection practice in Nepal.MethodsAn exploratory qualitative study design was used in this study. Key policymakers from both the central and regional level were selected using purposive sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO) was used after modifying the context. Interviews were conducted to clarify doubts and obtain additional information. The data was analyzed manually using deductive content analysis technique.ResultsIn total, eleven policymakers participated. All unanimously agreed that injection safety is a problem and seven participants reported that injections are overused. They shared the opinion that injections are administered by various providers, including formal and informal health providers, and also quacks. Almost half the respondents reported that the National Drug Policy discourages injection overuse, while others reported that the policy contains no provisions regarding injection overuse. Most policymakers stated that only single-use disposable injection equipment is used to provide injection, while others thought that sterilizable glass syringe is also used. More than half of the participants believed that the quality of injection equipment available in the Nepalese market is not regulated by any government institution. Almost two-third of the policymakers stated that syringes and needles are not reused, while the rest thought syringes might be reused without sterilization in some parts of the country. Almost half of the respondents stated that illegal commercialization of used syringes exists in Nepal. Almost all respondents thought that health care institutions have a waste management plan, while more than half of them opined that such plans are limited to tertiary care hospitals located in the capital.ConclusionsThe result of this study revealed a divergence of views among policymakers, even among those in the same ministry. Though there has been some effort from the government to increase the safety of injection practices, greater efforts are required, especially with regard to standardization of policies and procedures related to injection practice.

Effect of an educational intervention on knowledge and attitude regarding pharmacovigilance and consumer pharmacovigilance among community pharmacists in Lalitpur district, Nepal

BackgroundPharmacovigilance activities are in a developing stage in Nepal. ADR reporting is mainly confined to healthcare professionals working in institutions recognized as regional pharmacovigilance centers. Community pharmacists could play an important role in pharmacovigilance. This study was conducted among community pharmacists in Lalitpur district to examine their knowledge and attitude about pharmacovigilance before and after an educational intervention.MethodsKnowledge and attitude was studied before, immediately after and 6xa0weeks following the intervention among 75 community pharmacists. Responses were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A pretested questionnaire having twelve and nine statements for assessing knowledge and attitude were used. The overall scores were obtained by adding the ‘knowledge’ and ‘attitude’ scores and ‘overall’ scores were summarized using median and interquartile range. Wilcoxon signed-rank test for repeated samples was used to compare the differences between knowledge and attitude of the pharmacists before and after the educational program.ResultsKnowledge scores [median (interquartile range)] improved significantly between pre-test [39 (44–46)], post-test [44 (44–44)] and retention period of 6xa0weeks after the intervention [46 (43–46)]. Knowledge score improved immediately post-intervention among both males [44 (41–47)] and females [44 (43–45)] but the retention scores (after 6xa0weeks) were higher [46 (42–48)] among males. Attitude scores improved significantly among females [46 (44–48)]. The overall scores were higher among pharmacists from rural areas.ConclusionKnowledge and attitude scores improved after the educational intervention. Further studies in other regions of the country are required. The national pharmacovigilance center should promote awareness about ADR reporting among community pharmacists.

VigiAccess: Promoting public access to VigiBase

Sir, Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The thalidomide tragedy in the late 1950s and early 1960s provided a strong impetus to initiating an international system of pharmacovigilance. The international drug monitoring system officially started in 1968 with ten countries pooling ADR data from their respective national systems.[1] As of March 2007, the system held 3,800,000 individual case safety reports (ICSRs) contributed by national centers. By October 2014, the number of ICSRs had increased to over 10 million reports to over 150,000 medicines and vaccines.[2]

Promoting rational self-medication of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in Nepal

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a commonly used class of drugs. They are used for self-medication worldwide including Nepal to treat self-limiting conditions, and mild to moderate symptoms associated with disease. Similar degree of care like prescription-only drugs is needed for these drugs as these are also linked with many adverse effects. However, nephrotoxicity remains a major concern with these drugs; other systems such as gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, hematologic, respiratory, and hepatic are also affected. The renal effects of analgesics are pronounced among patients with comorbid conditions, hypovolemic state of body and those with concomitant use of nephrotoxic or other drugs. A number of studies on self-medication all over the world have revealed that NSAIDs are the most commonly used drugs as self-medication. Easy access to these drugs either in pharmacy or in nonpharmacy outlets has become a reason for proper monitoring of over-the-counter use of these drugs. Responsibility remains with all healthcare professionals, either at individual or institutional level, to establish the balance between the benefits and risks associated with these drugs. The consumer who uses the drugs and the policy-framing bodies are others who could intervene in promoting the rational use of NSAIDs.