Articles

Tackling the blind spot of poor-quality medicines in Universal Health Coverage

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is challenged by the prevalence of poor-quality medicines, those that either do not meet required specifications (substandard) or are outrightly fraudulent (falsified), especial...

Authors: E. S. F. Orubu, C. Ching, M. H. Zaman and V. J. Wirtz

Job satisfaction among pharmacy professionals working in public hospitals and its associated factors, eastern Ethiopia

Poor job satisfaction has been associated with less productivity and high staff turnover. Various factors are thought to contribute for job dissatisfaction among pharmacy professionals and very limited studies...

Authors: Yohanes Ayele, Behailu Hawulte, Tilayie Feto, G. Vijai Basker and Yadeta Dessie Bacha

A simplified checklist for the visual inspection of finished pharmaceutical products: a way to empower frontline health workers in the fight against poor-quality medicines

Substandard and falsified medicines, mainly prevalent in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), cause avoidable morbidity and mortality, and put at stake the performance of health systems. They may be preven...

Authors: B. Schiavetti, E. Wynendaele, V. Melotte, J. Van der Elst, B. De Spiegeleer and R. Ravinetto

Knowledge and attitudes towards antibiotic use and resistance among undergraduate healthcare students at University of Rwanda

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an imminent threat to modern medicine. As the efficacy of treatment regimens is reduced, mortality and morbidity attributed to infectious diseases is expected to rise dramatic...

Authors: Lyduine Nisabwe, Hirwa Brice, Marie Christine Umuhire, Olivia Gwira, Jean De Dieu Harelimana, Zephanie Nzeyimana, Osee Rurambya Sebatunzi, Emmanuel Kamanzi Rusingiza, Innocent Hahirwa and Claude Mambo Muvunyi

Pharmacists at the frontline beating the COVID-19 pandemic

As the lockdowns are being observed all over the globe and the national level pharmacy professionals are performing frontline roles, this editorial highlights the role of pharmacists in the COVID − 19 pandemic...

Authors: Nadia Bukhari, Huma Rasheed, Bismah Nayyer and Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar

Price variation among different brands of anticancer medicines available in hospital pharmacies of Nepal

To assess the variation in price among different brands of anticancer medicines available in hospital pharmacies at Nepalese cancer hospitals.

Authors: Sunil Shrestha, Ramesh Sharma Poudel, Bhuvan KC, Bhupendra Kumar Poudel, Binaya Sapkota, Sabina Sharma and Anil Khadka

Public reporting on pharmaceutical industry-led access programs: alignment with the WHO medicine programs evaluation checklist

There has been increased demand for greater public accountability and transparency of private sector-led global health partnership programs. This study critically reviews and pilot tests the World Health Organ...

Authors: Chukwuemeka A. Umeh, Peter C. Rockers, Richard Laing, Ovi Wagh and Veronika J. Wirtz

Advertisement of antibiotics for upper respiratory infections and equity in access to treatment: a cross-sectional study in Nepal

Pharmaceutical companies actively advertise their branded antibiotics, which influence their sales at community pharmacies. The major proportion of out of pocket health spending is on medicine; and affordabili...

Authors: Pramesh Koju, Stéphane P. Rousseau, Marc Van der Putten, Archana Shrestha and Rajeev Shrestha

Abstracts from the 1st JoPPP Conference on Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice

Authors: Salman Mehmood, Syed Muhammad Farid Hasan, Chinara Maratovna Razzakova, Liliya Eugenevna Ziganshina, Azjargal Ganbat, Tsetsegmaa Sanjjav, Bruce Sunderland, Gantuya Dorj, Gereltuya Dorj, Satibi Satibi, M. Rifqi Rokhman, Hardika Aditama, Ika Kartini, Rini Ambarsari, Fajar Pramesti, Peng Yeow Loh…

Herbal medicines: a cross-sectional study to evaluate the prevalence and predictors of use among Jordanian adults

Understanding why adults resort to herbal medicine can help in planning interventions aimed at increasing awareness regarding herbal use. This study sought to investigate the prevalence and to determine factor...

Authors: Faris El-Dahiyat, Mohamed Rashrash, Sawsan Abuhamdah, Rana Abu Farha and Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar

Supplementary protection certificates and their impact on access to medicines in Europe: case studies of sofosbuvir, trastuzumab and imatinib

In recent years, there has been increasing pressure on public health systems in high-income countries due to high medicines prices, one of the underlying causes of which are the market monopolies granted to ph...

Authors: Yuanqiong Hu, Dimitri Eynikel, Pascale Boulet and Gaelle Krikorian

The association of HIV and easy access to narcotics in Pakistan; calling drug policy makers

HIV in Pakistan is concentrated to people who inject drugs (PWID) and easy accessibility of narcotics to this population cannot be disregarded as a risk factor of growing encumbrance of AIDS in the country. Al...

Authors: Tauqeer Hussain Mallhi, Yusra Habib Khan, Amjad Khan, Nasser Hadal Alotaibi, Abdulaziz Ibrahim Alzarea and Furqan Khurshid Hashmi

Costs and effectiveness of the supervision, performance assessment and recognition (SPARS) strategy for medicines management in Uganda

Authors: Brendan Kwesiga, Anita Katharina Wagner, Morries Seru, Dennis Ross-Degnan and Birna Trap

Correction to: Public procurement of medicines: scoping review of the scientific literature in South America

Following publication of the original article [1], we have been notified of a few errors in the figures:

Authors: Cristiane Mota Soares, Beatriz Nascimento, Luisa Arueira Chaves, Rondineli Mendes Silva, Maria Auxiliadora Oliveira and Vera Lucia Luiza

Imbalance in glycemic control between the treatment and placebo groups in cardiovascular outcome trials in type 2 diabetes

Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is accepted as the most reliable marker for assessing chronic glycemia. The present study aimed to investigate glycemic control in cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs) performed by...

Authors: Rumiko Shimazawa and Masayuki Ikeda

Factors contributing to medicines wastage in public health facilities of South West Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia: a qualitative study

Medicines wastage is one of the challenges of health supply chain management in developing countries including Ethiopia. However, there is lack of objective evidence on the detailed underlying causes of medici...

Authors: Esayas Tadesse Gebremariam, Dawit Teshome Gebregeorgise and Teferi Gedif Fenta

Pharmacotherapy of infertility in Ghana: retrospective study at the cape coast teaching hospital

Infertility is a major challenge for couples globally. Due to low income levels and the high cost of other assisted reproductive techniques, pharmacotherapy remain the major first line treatment option for inf...

Authors: Stephen Mensah Arhin, Kwesi Boadu Mensah, Evans Agbeno, Vitus Sambo Badii and Charles Ansah

Abstracts from the 4th International PPRI Conference 2019: Medicines access challenge – The value of pricing and reimbursement policies

Authors:

Challenges constraining availability and affordability of insulin in Bengaluru region (Karnataka, India): evidence from a mixed-methods study

Considering limited global access to affordable insulin, we evaluated insulin access in public and private health sectors in Bengaluru, India.

Authors: Gautam Satheesh, M. K. Unnikrishnan and Abhishek Sharma

A qualitative exploration of Bahrain and Kuwait herbal medicine registration systems: policy implementation and readiness to change

The Kuwaiti drug regulatory authority (DRA) lack a structured classification system for the assessment of imported herbal medicines (HMs), which leads to ambiguity in the registration process. This study aimed...

Authors: Azhar H. Alostad, Douglas T. Steinke and Ellen I. Schafheutle

Eliminating medicine waste in a Finnish university hospital — a qualitative study

Medicine waste in hospitals leads to severe economic loss. This waste emerges for a number of reasons. Medicines are often ordered in too large quantities, which leads to stock expiring without being dispensed...

Authors: Teijo Peltoniemi and Reima Suomi

Public procurement of medicines: scoping review of the scientific literature in South America

Authors: Cristiane Mota Soares, Beatriz Nascimento, Luisa Arueira Chaves, Rondineli Mendes Silva, Maria Auxiliadora Oliveira and Vera Lucia Luiza

Perceptions and trends in the use of community pharmacies in Ghana

To examine the patterns in utilization of community pharmacies and perceptions of the general public towards community pharmacists’ role in health services delivery.

Authors: Grace Adjei Okai, Gordon Abekah-Nkrumah and Patrick Opoku Asuming

Regulatory framework in Pakistan: situation analysis of medicine quality and future recommendations

Quality issues in pharmaceuticals are identified as a huge global and public health problem, especially with reference to low- and middle-income countries like Pakistan. The 2011 “Fake Drug Crisis” acted as a ...

Authors: Huma Rasheed, Ludwig Hoellein, Khalid Saeed Bukhari and Ulrike Holzgrabe

Assessing national governance of medicine promotion: an exploratory study in Ghana to trial a structured set of indicators

Two billion people worldwide, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries, cannot consistently access required essential medications, thus affecting their ability to attain optimal health outcomes. Acces...

Authors: Marcia McLean, Jillian Clare Kohler and Danny Edwards

Systematic review for the development of a pharmaceutical and medical products prioritization framework

To identify and analyze the criteria, approaches, and conceptual frameworks, used for national/international priority setting.

Authors: Alberto Frutos Pérez-Surio, Mercedes Gimeno-Gracia, Ma. Aránzazu Alcácera López, Ma. Asunción Sagredo Samanes, Ma. del Puerto Pardo Jario and Ma. del Tránsito Salvador Gómez

The Brazilian private pharmaceutical market after the first ten years of the generics law

To describe changes in the private market for selected originators, branded generics (‘similares’), and generic products during the 10 years following passage of the Brazilian Generics Law.

Authors: Andréa Dâmaso Bertoldi, Anita K. Wagner, Isabel Cristina Martins Emmerick, Luisa Arueira Chaves, Peter Stephens and Dennis Ross-Degnan

Implementing a clozapine supply service in Australian community pharmacies: barriers and facilitators

Clozapine is the most effective antipsychotic for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, although serious adverse effects such as agranulocytosis and cardiomyopathy limit its use. In July 2015, Australian regulati...

Authors: Bethany Wilson, Sara S. McMillan and Amanda J. Wheeler

Need to improve availability of “access” group antibiotics and reduce the use of “watch” group antibiotics in India for optimum use of antibiotics to contain antimicrobial resistance

Authors: Sumanth Gandra and Anita Kotwani

Assessment of prescription pattern and prescription error in outpatient Department at Tertiary Care District Hospital, Central Nepal

The rational use of medicine improves patient’s quality of life. Excessive and inappropriate prescriptions result in severe consequences. The study of drug use patterns and prescription errors is necessary to ...

Authors: Rajeev Shrestha and Srijana Prajapati

Association between medicine Price declaration by pharmaceutical industries and retail prices in Malaysia’s private healthcare sector

As part of the initiatives to increase price transparency for consumers, pharmaceutical industry in Malaysia have been encouraged to declare the wholesale and recommended retail prices (RRP) of medicines to th...

Authors: Nur Sufiza Ahmad, Ernieda Hatah and Mohd Makmor-Bakry

Factors influencing pharmaceutical pricing - a scoping review of academic literature in health science

Pharmaceutical pricing has only recently gained space in mainstream health science literature.

Authors: Maria Angelica Borges dos Santos, Leticia Lucia dos Santos Dias, Cláudia Du Bocage Santos Pinto, Rondineli Mendes da Silva and Claudia Garcia Serpa Osorio-de-Castro

A case of DAPSONE INDUCED METHEMOGLOBINEMIA

Methemoglobinemia (MetHb) being a rare cause of cyanosis is generally not considered in its differential diagnosis. Methemoglobinemia is an abnormal Hb produced physiologically by auto-oxidation. If this proce...

Authors: Najia Mahmood, Mutti Ullah Khan, Ihtisham U. L. Haq, Farhat Afshan Jelani and Aayesha Tariq

Patient involvement in questionnaire design: tackling response error and burden

Questionnaires capture patient perspectives succinctly and at relatively low cost, making them a popular data collection tool for health researchers. However, questionnaire data can be affected by response err...

Authors: Marissa Ayano Mes, Amy Hai Yan Chan, Vari Wileman, Caroline Brigitte Katzer, Melissa Goodbourn, Steven Towndrow, Stephanie Jane Caroline Taylor and Rob Horne

Pharmacovigilance systems in resource-limited settings: an evaluative case study of Sierra Leone

Few low and middle-income countries (LMIC) have fully operational pharmacovigilance structures, systems and legal framework to collect and collate safety data and evaluate the risks and benefits by active and ...

Authors: Onome T. Abiri and Wiltshire C. N. Johnson

Access to and use of medicines in the Annapurna region of Western Nepal and possible impacting factors

Improving access to medicines is a major healthcare challenge for low-income countries because the problem traverses health systems, society and multiple stakeholders. The Annapurna region of Nepal provides a ...

Authors: Bhuvan K.C., Susan Heydon and Pauline Norris

Current status and future prospects of pharmacovigilance in Pakistan

Countries all around the globe are working to establish robust pharmacovigilance systems. Whereas the majority of the developed countries have established well-organized pharmacovigilance systems, the developi...

Authors: Rabia Hussain and Mohamed Azmi Hassali

Hypertension control among euvolemic hypertensive hemodialysis patients in Malaysia: a prospective follow-up study

Existing literature does not provide enough information on evaluation of factors associated with pre-dialysis controlled hypertension among euvolemic hemodialysis (HD) patients. We conducted a study to evaluat...

Authors: Amjad Khan, Amer Hayat Khan, Azreen Syazril Adnan, Syed Azhar Syed Sulaiman, Saima Mushtaq, Nafees Ahmad and Irfanullah Khan

Rationing for medicines by health care providers in Indonesia National Health Insurance System at hospital setting: a qualitative study

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Indonesia is planned to be fully implemented in 2019 through the National Health Insurance (NHI) launched in January 2014. However, limited financial resources cause health c...

Authors: Endang Yuniarti, Yayi Suryo Prabandari, Erna Kristin and Sri Suryawati

Assessment of disposal practices of expired and unused medications among community pharmacies in Anambra State southeast Nigeria: a mixed study design

Expired or unused medicines are potentially toxic substances that should be managed effectively to avoid accumulation of potentially toxic pharmaceuticals in the environment. In Nigeria, there is currently lim...

Authors: Iweh Michael, Brian Ogbonna, Nduka Sunday, Maureen Anetoh and Okonta Matthew

Stakeholder driven development of a multi-criteria decision analysis tool for purchasing off-patent pharmaceuticals in Kuwait

In Kuwait, the government is planning to improve the specifications for purchase of medicine and to improve the tendering system intending to slow the growth of the expenditure for medicine and to improve the ...

Authors: Ali Hadi Abdullah, Anke-Peggy Holtorf, Maryam Al-Hussaini, Jacinthe Lemay, Maryam Alowayesh and Zoltán Kaló

Optimization of antibiotic selection in the emergency department for urine culture follow ups, a retrospective pre-post intervention study: clinical pharmacist efforts

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are commonly encountered in the emergency department (ED). ED culture follow up is an important tool to provide the appropriate therapy after the identification of the causative ...

Authors: Abdulaziz Saleh Almulhim, Ali Aldayyen, Kateryna Yenina, Adam Chiappini and Tahir Mehmood Khan

Investigating the association of proton pump inhibitors with chronic kidney disease and its impact on clinical practice and future research: a review

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are used worldwide for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and peptic ulcer disease (PUD). Although considered to be widely safe, PPIs have been associated wit...

Authors: Ejaz Cheema

Diabetes policies and pharmacy-based diabetes interventions in Portugal: a comprehensive review

Pharmacy-based interventions are complex public health endeavors which include, but are not restricted to, the conventional medication supply role. In diabetes, such interventions may improve patients’ outcome...

Authors: Suzete Costa, Maria Rute Horta, Rita Santos, Zilda Mendes, Isabel Jacinto, José Guerreiro, Maria Cary, Ana Miranda, Dennis K. Helling and Ana Paula Martins

Jazia prime vendor system- a public-private partnership to improve medicine availability in Tanzania: from pilot to scale

The availability of medicines in public health facilities in Tanzania is problematic. Medicines shortages are often caused by unavailability at Medical Stores Department, the national supplier for public healt...

Authors: Karin Wiedenmayer, Romuald Mbwasi, William Mfuko, Ezekiel Mpuya, James Charles, Fiona Chilunda, Denis Mbepera and Ntuli Kapologwe

Self medication practice and associated factors among students of Asmara College of Health Sciences, Eritrea: a cross sectional study

Self-medication is a common practice globally and the resulting irrational drug use is raising concerns. Up-to-date there is no systematic study conducted on self medication practice among students or the gene...

Authors: Zenawi Zeramariam Araia, Nahom Kiros Gebregziabher and Araia Berhane Mesfun

Inter-rater reliability and validity of good pharmacy practices measures in inspection of public sector health facility pharmacies in Uganda

The National Drug Authority (NDA) inspects and certifies private and public sector pharmacies in Uganda using an indicator-based inspection tool that measures adherence to good pharmacy practices (GPP). 67 mea...

Authors: Brian Sekayombya, David Nahamya, Laura Garabedian, Morries Seru and Birna Trap

Use of generic medicines in Latvia: awareness, opinions and experiences of the population

To stimulate use of generic medicines a combination of supply and demand side mechanisms are employed in the Latvian reimbursement system. It is reported that patients have high out-of-pocket pharmaceutical sp...

Authors: Ieva Salmane Kulikovska, Elita Poplavska, Marija Ceha and Signe Mezinska

To sell or not to sell; the differences between regulatory and community demands regarding access to antibiotics in rural Ghana

In Ghana, there is extensive over-the-counter dispensing of antibiotics, resulting in high levels of inappropriate use, and an increase in antibiotic resistance. Regulations prevent Licenced Chemical Sellers (...

Authors: Samuel Afari-Asiedu, John Kinsman, Ellen Boamah-Kaali, Martha Ali Abdulai, Margaret Gyapong, Osman Sankoh, Marlies Hulscher, Kwaku Poku Asante and Heiman Wertheim

Patent challenges in the procurement and supply of generic new essential medicines and lessons from HIV in the southern African development community (SADC) region.

High medicines prices increasingly pose challenges for universal access to treatments of communicable and non-communicable diseases. New essential medicines are often patent-protected which sustains high price...

Authors: Ellen F. M. ‘t Hoen, Tapiwanashe Kujinga and Pascale Boulet