Pharmaceutical care during COVID-19 pandemic: challenges and perspectives

Abstract COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is raising many questions about the future of face-to-face interactions. The possible changes on healthcare delivery may provoke a long term disruption on pharmaceutical assistance requiring new approaches to provide pharmaceutical services. The proposal of pharmaceutical care is patient oriented, and its activities include different forms of interaction. The emergence of COVID-19 puts to the test all the efforts to reposition pharmaceutical care in the set of clinical activities. Now, the pharmaceutical consultations and group activities, which played a fundamental role in the reformulation of pharmacy practices, must be revised in order to reduce the risk of patient agglomeration and contamination. Several researchers suggest technology use to intermediate health care assistance. However, few studies had rigorously analyzed the effectiveness of virtual health care on the pharmaceutical field. Innovating the pharmacy workflow, during the course of a crisis like COVID-19, is the current challenge addressed to all pharmacists. This unforeseen situation requires us to reconsider our plans and actions. It will be necessary resilience, courage and creativity to achieve a consistent attitude, which provides a quick response to the health care needs in this time of crisis.

Survey on Pharmacist's Awareness of E-commerce for Non-prescription Medicine

OBJECTIVE: Online pharmacies were introduced in some countries such as United States of America or Canada. They can provide benefits to consumer because they can buy and take conveniently drugs without limitation of location or time. In Korea, online pharmacies are illegal and only pharmacists can sell drugs to consumers or patients. Therefore, we investigated the knowledge of online pharmacy and the possible problem in Korea to survey pharmacists. METHODS: We developed questionnaire based on previous articles about online pharmacy and surveyed nation-wide pharmacists by mail or e-mail. The data was analyzed by SPSS and Microsoft Excel. P-values less than 0.05 were statistically significant. RESULTS: 175 pharmacists involved in this study. About introduction of online pharmacies, 53.1% were opposition while 10.3% were approval and 36.6% were conditional. Although online pharmacies were introduced, 46.3% pharmacists do not have a plan to start online pharmacy. However, the approval and tends about starting online pharmacies were higher in younger pharmacists (20s, 30s) (p < 0.05). The criteria of permission about opening online pharmacies were 100% pharmacist license regardless of holding off-line pharmacy. 53.7% pharmacists responded education about taking medication is impossible. When online pharmacies are introduced, 65.1% pharmacists responded traditional pharmacies are affected negatively. Pharmacists concerned that the competition with large-sized distribution corporations, reduced reliance between pharmacists and patients, illegal transaction of counterfeit drugs, increased misuse of drugs. CONCLUSION: These results showed that Korea pharmacists have negative standard on online pharmacies. Therefore it is required to be more cautious before introducing online pharmacy and it need strict watching system and continuous education and study for safety after introducing online pharmacy.

Propuesta de normativa para la regulación de la venta de medicamentos vía internet en la República Bolivariana de Venezuela / Proposal of regulations for the regulation of the sale of medicines via the Internet in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Comprar por Internet es privado y fácil. Las farmacias virtuales permiten comprar medicamentos desde la computadora. Sin embargo, estas farmacias pueden ser ilegales o no cumplir con el procedimiento establecido para la dispensación, desvirtuando uno de los objetivos principales de la profesión Farmacéutica como es el uso racional de los medicamentos y poniendo en riesgo a la población involucrada. Es función de la Autoridad Nacional Reguladora (ANR) asegurar que los medicamentos lleguen a la población por canales que aseguren su calidad, seguridad y eficacia. En la República Bolivariana de Venezuela esta responsabilidad recae sobre el Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Salud. Con este trabajo se pretende redactar una propuesta de Normativa Farmacéutica que le permita al ente regulador establecer la pautas para el funcionamiento de las Farmacias Virtuales y por consiguiente el comercio legal del medicamento por este medio digital. Para llegar a este fin se realizó una investigación exploratoria de la situación de la oferta de medicamentos a través de las farmacias virtuales nacionales y extranjeras, estableciendo de esta forma la existencia de dicha oferta y el tipo de farmacias virtuales existentes en el mercado venezolano. Posteriormente se realizó una revisión documental de las normativas y recomendaciones nacionales e internacionales de los organismos considerados de referencia y que tienen relación con el tema, para luego analizar y armonizar los aspectos más importantes e integrarlos a la discusión del trabajo y finalmente a la propuesta de normativa

Internet shopping is private and easy. Online pharmacies can purchase drugs through the computer. However, these pharmacies may be illegal or not comply with the established procedure for dispensing, weakening thus one of the main objectives of the pharmacy profession as the rational use of drugs and endangering the population involved. It is a function of the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) to assure that medicines reach the people through channels that ensure quality, safety and efficacy. In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela this responsibility lies in the Ministry of Popular Power for Health. This work aims to propose a pharmaceutical legislation that allows the regulator to set the guidelines for the operation of the virtual pharmacy and therefore the legal trade of medicine in this digital medium. To achieve this goal it was conducted an exploratory investigation of the conditions of supply of drugs through domestic and foreign online pharmacies, establishing thus the existence of such offer and the types of online pharmacies existing in the Venezuelan market. Later we made a documentary review of national and international regulations and recommendations of agencies considered relevant and which are related to the topic, then we analyzed and harmonized the most important aspects and integrated them into the discussion of the work, to finally propose a regulation

Análise da venda de medicamentos pela internet: o caso dos inibidores da fosfodiesterase-5 / Analysis of the sale of medicines over the internet: the case of phosphodiesterase-5

O uso irracional de medicamentos faz parte do processo de medicalização da sociedade, que traz mais danos que benefícios. Nesse contexto, o comércio eletrônico de medicamentos apresenta os riscos adicionais da ausência de orientação de um profissional da saúde e a oferta de medicamentos ilegais. Medicamentos com alto apelo publicitário, como os inibidores da fosfodiesterase 5 (IPDES), podem representar casos extremos deste problema de saúde contemporâneo. Objetivo: Analisar os sites de venda de IPDES em língua portuguesa. Método: Estudo transversal descritivo sobre os anúncios dos medicamentos Viagra (citrato de sildenafil), Cialis (tadalafila), Levitra (vardernafila) (medicamentos legais); e Pranil (citrato de sildenafil) e Eroxil (tadalafila) (medicamentos ilegais)...Resultado: Foram encontrados 497 anúncios, sendo 310 para medicamentos legais e 187 para medicamentos ilegais. Para ambos os tipos, a maioria dos anúncios foi hospedado em sites estrangeiros, e não foi possível identificar a localização do vendedor. Uma minoria dos sites, tanto legais quanto ileais, apresentava informações sobre indicação, contra-indicação e posologia. As diferenças encontradas na distribuição de todas as variáveis de caracterização dos sites legais ou ilegais não apresentaram significância estatística. Em relação aos apelos publicitários, exceto pela palavra "Segurança", todas as demais palavras analisadas foram mais frequentes nos anúncios de medicamentos ilegais. Ambos os tipos de sites apresentavam baixa adesão às recomendações da RDC 44/2009. Conclusão:Este estudo demonstra que a adesão à regulação da venda de medicamentos pela internet no Brasil encontra-se em fase incipiente, sendo que esta investigação, anterior à RDC 44/2009, identificou poucas diferenças entre sites de medicamentos legais e ilegais. Assim, para além do estabelecimento do marco regulatório, intervenções mais gerais no âmbito da Saúde Pública são importantes e necessárias.