Weak regulations threaten the safety of consumers from harmful weight-loss supplements globally: results from a pilot global policy scan.

OBJECTIVE: To pilot a global policy scan assessing how governments worldwide regulate weight-loss supplements (WLS). DESIGN: Experts on WLS policies from thirty countries that varied by World Bank income classification, with five from each of the six WHO regions, completed an online survey on WLS regulation in their country. The survey covered six domains: legal frameworks; pre-market requirements; claims, labelling, and advertisements; product availability; adverse events reporting; and monitoring and enforcement. Percentages were calculated for presence or absence of a type of regulation. SETTING: Experts were recruited through websites of regulatory bodies and professional LinkedIn networks and scientific article searches on Google Scholar. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty experts, one from each country (i.e. researchers, regulators, other experts in food and drug regulation). RESULTS: WLS regulations varied widely across countries, and a number of gaps were identified. One country (Nigeria) has a minimum legal age to purchase WLS. Thirteen countries reported independently evaluating the safety of a new WLS product sample. Two countries have limitations on where WLS can be sold. In eleven countries, reports on adverse events related to WLS are publicly available. In eighteen countries, safety of new WLS is to be established through scientific criteria. Penalties for WLS non-compliance with pre-market regulations exist in twelve countries and labelling requirements in sixteen countries. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this pilot study document wide variability in national WLS regulations globally, exposing many gaps in important components of consumer protection regulatory frameworks for WLS, which likely put consumer health at risk.

How are groups of early career pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists contributing to global health and policy development: A cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Early career pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientist groups (ECPGs) can make valuable contributions to addressing global health challenges and policy development. There is limited information describing their contribution to this topic. This study describes initiatives and activities related to global health and policy development led by ECPGs. METHODS: An online questionnaire was disseminated between July and October 2020 through the International Pharmaceutical Federation Young Pharmacists Group (FIP YPG) mailing list and its social media network. The survey consisted of questions about ECPGs' involvement in global health and policy development activities. In addition to groups or organisations, the FIP YPG also invited individual pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists to explore their needs and views on the role of the ECPGs, and themselves as individuals in global health. Data were analysed descriptively. RESULTS: Thirty national ECPGs across six regions of the World Health Organisation (WHO) participated in the survey. Most of the initiatives led by ECPGs focused on health and wellbeing, quality of education and partnership. The most common activities were webinars, social events and partnerships with other organisations. In terms of global health challenges listed by the WHO, the most common initiatives led by ECPGs were related to medicines access and medicines safety. There was some involvement of early career pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, and ECPGs in the policy and regulation in their countries across various topics. CONCLUSION: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first global study exploring initiatives conducted by ECPGs. This study informed initiatives that have been implemented across regions, which could be useful for other ECPGs to initiate in their country according to their needs and priorities. Fostering engagement and collaboration between ECPGs is encouraged to provide opportunities and share learning across ECPGs, which could accelerate progress towards tackling global health challenges.

FIP's response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Global pharmacy rises to the challenge.

The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), as the global leadership body for pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists and pharmaceutical educators, coordinated and produced as of January 2020 an international response to the COVID-19 pandemic. FIP's response included professional guidance, a programme of digital events and other resources, as well as advocacy and policy tools to support national pharmacists' associations and academic institutions, as well as individual practitioners, in their response at country level. This article describes the strategy adopted by FIP in collaboration with an international group of experts to support the valuable service that pharmacists and their teams provide to communities throughout the pandemic, and their important contribution to easing the huge strain being placed on health systems around the world.

Impact assessment of pharmacy awareness campaigns conducted in selected high schools across Lagos, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: It is revealing that pharmacy as a key health care profession is almost invisible within more recent health policy initiatives in Nigeria. This research is an effort to improve awareness about the pharmacy profession. The target shall be young, science inclined individuals in high schools; they are the future. OBJECTIVE: To assess the levels of knowledge of high school science students about pharmacy and their interest in becoming pharmacists before and after sessions of awareness and education about the profession. METHOD: The study was a behavioral intervention study with pre and post cross-sectional survey; carried out in three high schools across Lagos, Nigeria; 127 science students participated. Information was collected using questionnaires inquiring into the career interests of the students and their levels of awareness of the pharmacy profession before and after series of coordinated sensitization about pharmacy. There was one sensitization exercise conducted per school and each lasted for about 80 min with breaks in between. An average of 40 students per school (all science majors present on the day of the survey) participated in the study. A pretest was first conducted, followed by the campaign and then a posttest to assess impact. Communication was done in English language all through the survey. RESULTS: and Discussion: Most of the students claimed to know who a pharmacist is. However, upon further probe, only 3.1 percent of the respondents had a very good knowledge of what the pharmacy profession entails, from the pretest. At the end of the awareness discussions, an appreciable 18.1 percent of the students now had very good knowledge of the pharmacy profession. Similarly, a better 11.8 percent of students became interested in becoming pharmacists against the previously recorded 5.5 percent. This depicts how strategic advocacies can be utilized in building good professionals and ensuring a sustainable legacy for pharmacy in Nigeria. CONCLUSION: The study establishes that the knowledge and awareness of high school science students about the pharmacy profession is relatively low across three selected secondary schools. The sensitization held yielded measurable improvement in awareness and interest. In view of this, Pharmacists in Nigeria are implored to do more of career mentorship.

Assessment of self-medication practices with antibiotics among undergraduate university students in Rwanda.

INTRODUCTION: Antimicrobial resistance (AR) is on a rise as one of the major global public health threats. It is therefore important to assess contributory factors to the rise in the cases of resistance reported. The main objective of this study was to assess the self-medication practices with antibiotics among the University of Rwanda students in Huye Campus. METHODS: A sample of 570 students from all levels and colleges of the University of Rwanda in Huye Campus were selected using a simple random sampling to participate in this study. A questionnaire was administered to be answered individually by the consented respondents where the self-medication practices with antibiotics in the past 6 months were assessed. The results were statistically analyzed using SPSS v.16. RESULTS: The study showed that 12.1% (n=69) practiced self-medication with antibiotics. The major reason for self-medication with antibiotics was illness not serious to have a consultation (50.72%). The main diseases being treated were common cold/fever/cough (47.83%). The most used antibiotic for self-medication was Amoxicillin capsules (59.42%), while the main source of antibiotics was the community pharmacy (72.42%). CONCLUSION: Self-medication with antibiotics is not uncommon among the university students. Regarding the main reasons of self-medication with antibiotics, diseases being treated, and the antibiotics used, it was found that all these may be related to the students' lack of knowledge about the need for rational use of antibiotics and a study was needed to confirm it.

Assessment of self-medication practices with antibiotics among undergraduate university students in Rwanda

Introduction: antimicrobial Resistance (AR) is on a rise as one of the major global public health threats. It is therefore important to assess contributory factors to the rise in the cases of resistance reported. The main objective of this study was to assess the nself-medication practices with antibiotics among the University of Rwanda students in Huye Campus.Methods: a sample of 570 students from all levels and colleges of the University of Rwanda in Huye Campus were selected using a simple random sampling to participate in this study. A questionnaire was administered to be answered individually by the consented respondents where the self-medication practices with antibiotics in the past 6 months were assessed. The results were statistically analyzed using SPSS v.16.Results: the study showed that 12.1% (n=69) practiced self-medication with antibiotics. The major reason for self medication with antibiotics was illness not serious to have a consultation (50.72%). The main diseases being treated were common cold/fever/cough (47.83%). The antibiotic that was mostly used was Amoxicillin capsules (59.42%), while the main source of antibiotics was community pharmacy (72.42%).Conclusion: the prevalence of self medication is considerably high among university students. Regarding the main reasons of self-medication with antibiotics, diseases being treated, and the antibiotics used, it was found that all these may be related to the students' lack of knowledge about the need for rational use of antibiotics and a study was needed to confirm it