Intervention model for detection, prevention and control of COVID-19 in community pharmacy

Abstract The announcement by the WHO of the characterization of the new Coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) as a pandemic, entails an adaptation by the community pharmacy in carrying out its care activity in general, with particular emphasis on "Minor Ailments Service" in particular. The measures taken by the different health administrations in which patient telephone care by primary care offices is prioritized have left more consultations on symptoms in the community pharmacist health-related problems as pharmacies are the closest health facilities to the patient. The similarity between the symptomatology caused by the new Coronavirus with that of some Enteroviruses that cause mild respiratory and gastrointestinal tables (dry cough, fever, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhoea, etc.) makes community pharmacies highly capable places for contagion detection and prevention. A model of protocolized intervention is needed to facilitate the pharmacist's work in discriminating during the indication between minor symptoms and symptoms of referral for possible cases of COVID-19 so that in conjunction with the rest of the staff we help control the disease and make better use of primary care consultations.

Utilization of non-prescription medicines in minor ailments management: A nationwide study undertaken among Malaysian community pharmacists

The absence of dispensing separation between private doctor clinics and pharmacies is the main challenge of theMalaysian community pharmacists. Within this context, the utilization of non-prescription medicines for minorailments treatment is one of the major roles of the pharmacists. This study aimed to evaluate the minor ailmentsmanagement using non-prescription medicines among the Malaysian community pharmacists. This was a crosssectional descriptive study. The entire population of Malaysian community pharmacists (n = 2,730) were invitedfor participation. Data were collected across the first 10 requests for minor ailments management involved adultconsumers in a working day. A total of 173 pharmacists were participated (response rate 6.3%) and 1,704 consumerswith 2,149 minor ailments were encountered. The consumers mostly have one minor ailment (78.3%) and involvedacute conditions (92.3%). Productive cough (7.3%), fever (6.3%), and dermatitis (6.1%) were most commonlymanaged by the pharmacists. Cetirizine (5.9%), paracetamol (4.7%), and diclofenac (4.2%) were most frequentlydispensed and each consumer received an average (median) of two medications. The median duration of treatment was5 days [inter-quartile range (IQR): 3–7] and the cost of treatment involved only medicines cost (median: RM 13.40;IQR: 8.00–21.00) without any consultation fee. The majority of the consumers (75.5%) sought help from pharmacistsfirst without consulting the doctors. Only 16.4% of the consumers were followed-up by the pharmacists. In conclusion,the pharmacists actively managed the minor ailments with an affordable cost of treatment. Guidelines and an auditsystem should be established to enhance the minor ailments practices of the pharmacists.

Management of Minor Ailments by Community Pharmacists in Cebu, Philippines – An Exploratory Study

Background@#Community pharmacists play a central role in the management of minor ailments and their clinical knowledge is vital in improving treatment outcomes of these ailments. The provision of minor ailment service in developed countries has been successful yet the practice in the Philippines has not been documented. @*Objectives@#The aim of this study was to document the involvement of community pharmacists in the management of minor ailments, the practices, and the perceived challenges in the provision of pharmacy service. @* Methods@#This was an exploratory descriptive study. Using qualitative research technique, a guided interview questionnaire was employed for data gathering. The practices employed and perceived challenges encountered by pharmacists were interpreted using conventional content analysis. @* Results@#Colds, cough, skin allergy, diarrhea were the four most common ailments managed by community pharmacists. Pharmacists had underdeveloped roles in consultation. Community pharmacists were knowledgeable on the causes of the minor ailments and the medications dispensed were compliant with approved product indications. The absence of institutional guidelines (66%), lack of ailment-specific training (100%), insufficient clinical skills (76.7%), and a dominant patient self-selection behavior for OTC medicines (73.3%) were perceived as challenges in the provision of minor ailment services.@*Conclusion@#Community pharmacists managed common ailments with non-prescription medicines however consultation roles were found to be underdeveloped.

A study of knowledge of Anganwadi workers regarding minor ailments among children in Amritsar district of Punjab, India.

Background: Anganwadi workers (AWW) are India’s primary tool against the menace of child malnourishment, infant mortality, and lack of child education, community health. The anganwadi workers should have basic knowledge of treatment of minor ailment. So with this aim this study was planned to assess the existing knowledge regarding minor ailments of children among anganwadi workers problems and in curbing preventable diseases. Methods: The present study was conducted in the Department of Community Medicine SGRDIMSAR, Amritsar. By adopting stratified random sampling technique, 5 AWW were selected per each training session. A pre- designed and pre-tested questionnaire prepared was used to collect information from AWW. Pre-test and post-test assessment to determine the knowledge of minor ailments among AWW was done. The data collected was statistically analysed using SPSS 20.0 version. Results: The study revealed that out of 135 AWW, 40% were in the age group of 25-45 years. Only 8.9% AWW were aware that a neonate should be referred in case he suffers from any of these conditions i.e. hypothermia, jaundice, fever. Awareness about newborn care practices was observed to increase with increase in education level. There was statistically significant improvement in the knowledge regarding minor ailments in post-test scores of AWWs. Conclusions: Anganwadi workers are India’s primary tool against the scourges of child malnourishment, infant mortality and curbing preventive diseases such as most minor ailments.