A randomized investigation was conducted in 30 of total 80 private pharmacies registered enterprise at Nha Trang city from Mar to Apr 2004 to determine real situation of treatment diarrhea for children under advice of the pharmacies. Results: rate of pharmacies advising treatment for diarrhea by ORS are relatively low while ORS drug is used largely and effectively in treatment diarrhea. 87% pharmacies have provided incorrect counseling to their customers.
Diarrhea ; Child ; Pharmacies

The reality, some results and shortcomings of privatization process of state owned pharmacies were evaluated at period 1999-2003. The result: privatizating state owned pharmacies is relatively good, the amount of privatizated state owned pharmacies increase continously in past years. However, although there were 54,1% of provinces and cities implementing privatization but mainly that are enterprises belong to 2 regions of The Red river delta and South- East Viet Nam. This showed that the privatization process of regions isn’t equal. According to the plan, in 1998 there had been 7 units carrying out privatization but to the end of the 2000, there was only 1 first unit conversing successtly. That is the branch of Hai Phong 1 Health company changing into HaiPhong Health trade privatization company. Estimating to 12/2003, there were 8 center state owned pharmacies and 65 local state owned pharmacies privatized. They concentrate most in South VietNam
Pharmacies ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; Epidemiology

Background: The pharmacovigilance system in the Philippines aims to ensure the safe use of medicines, including herbal products. However, there is a lack of reporting on adverse events related to herbal products, indicating a need for an improved monitoring system. Objectives: This study seeks to develop a community-based adverse event reporting system for herbal products in Calamba and Los Baños Laguna to enhance pharmacovigilance practices in the Philippines. The primary objectives include assessing consumer knowledge, willingness to report adverse events, and evaluating the feasibility of implementing such a system in community pharmacies. Methodology: A mixed-methods approach was employed, involving surveys with herbal product consumers and focus group discussions with community pharmacists. Data analysis utilized Likert scaling for surveys and thematic analysis for discussions, providing a comprehensive understanding of consumer perceptions and pharmacist experiences. Results: The study revealed limited consumer awareness of herbal safety risks but with a positive attitude towards reporting adverse events through community pharmacies. The developed algorithm, tailored to consumer and pharmacist preferences, demonstrated potential benefits in enhancing pharmacovigilance and promoting the rational use of herbal products. Conclusion The proposed community-based adverse event reporting system for herbal products in the Philippines offers a practical and accessible solution to improve pharmacovigilance, empower consumers, and ensure the safe utilization of herbal products. Implementation of this system has the potential to significantly enhance public health outcomes and contribute to the overall well-being of the Filipino population.
Pharmacovigilance ; Pharmacies ; Pharmacists

OBJECTIVE: As the demands of pharmacist's role and quality performance have increased, the verification of pharmacist's ability has been required. In this study, we aimed to select appropriate items for assessment of pharmacist's knowledge, attitude and performance. METHODS: Based on the pharmacist job analysis, we selected duties and tasks in consideration of applying pharmacy practical examination through brainstorming of internal researchers and group discussion with experts. Survey was conducted to evaluate the tasks according to the criteria detailed below: Realistic, Understandable, Measurable, Behavioral and Achievable (RUMBA). The subjects included professors at colleges of pharmacy and instructors of institutional or community pharmacy settings. RESULTS: Nine duties including 41 tasks were drawn for the survey through primary internal researchers. Of the 90 respondents, 95.6% were professors or preceptors who was engaged in practical training, and 62.2% had more than five years of practical experience. As a result of survey and discussion with expert panel, selected seven duties were selected as followings: ‘Patient (customer) reception’, ‘Drug preparation and distribution’, ‘Patient care’, ‘Administration’, ‘Patient counseling’, ‘Non-prescription medication counseling’, and ‘Provision of drug information’. The final 20 tasks from seven duties were chosen to assess skills that a pharmacist should be able to perform. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to select the items that can be included in pharmacist practical examination in the future, based on the RUMBA criteria. As a next step, it is necessary to study how to implement these items.
Humans ; Licensure ; Pharmacies ; Pharmacists ; Pharmacy ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Humans ; Pharmacies ; Singapore ; Patient Safety ; Safety Management

OBJECTIVE: The pharmacological effects of generic (GE) donepezil are the same as Aricept, its brand-name counterpart. However, little is known as to whether these two drugs provide the same quality of life (QOL). The study subjects were patients with Alzheimer's disease who were taking donepezil hydrochloride tablets, and were selected by visiting either the local pharmacies or the patients' homes. We chose the brand-name drug Aricept and its GE form donepezil to investigate, from a long-term caregiver's perspective, the influence of both drugs on the patients' QOL. METHODS: An EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) was used to assess the QOL of patients with Alzheimer's disease, before and after various Aricept and/or donepezil regimens. Patients were divided into four groups: first time users of Aricept (n=43), first time users of GE donepezil (n=45), users refilling previous prescriptions of Aricept (n=51), and users switching from Aricept to GE donepezil (n=51). RESULTS: The average change in the EQ-5D utility indices rose significantly in the patients starting a new regimen of Aricept and its GE drug. The patients continuing an existing regimen of Aricept showed no significant differences, even after Aricept was switched to a GE drug. CONCLUSION: The QOL of patients starting a new regimen of Aricept and its GE drug improved. The QOL was maintained upon switching to the GE drug form.
Alzheimer Disease* ; Drugs, Generic ; Humans ; Pharmacies ; Prescriptions ; Quality of Life* ; Tablets

BACKGROUNDS: Patient counseling has been forced since June. 19, 2014. Prior to this, there was no study to try to standardize medication counseling to improve quality. PURPOSE: This study was to investigate satisfaction level and comprehension level between the pharmacist group and the patient group about standardized medication counseling sheet. METHODS: Questionnaires to assess standardized patient counseling sheet were posted at online survey software (Qualtrics) to pharmacists who worked at community pharmacy and patients who had visited community pharmacy before. RESULTS: Three hundred thirty five patients and three hundred nineteen pharmacists were responded to the questionnaire (Response rate: 72.9%). More than half of each group were satisfied with standardized medication counseling sheets 'for the general public', 'for the pregnant women and nursing mothers', 'for the chronic patient', and 'for the aged' and patient group were more satisfied than pharmacist group. Similarly, more than half of each group comprehended with the medication counseling sheets 'for the general public', 'for the pregnant women and nursing mothers', 'for the chronic patient', and 'for the aged'. Patient group tended to expect longer patient counseling time per one drug than pharmacist group. Also, the majority of both groups wanted to provide standardized medication counseling sheets constantly and extend for all drugs. CONCLUSION: Both groups were satisfied and comprehended standardized medication counseling sheets, and agreed to expand standardized medication counseling sheets to all drugs. So, it is necessary to build the standardized medication counseling of all drugs.
Comprehension* ; Counseling* ; Female ; Humans ; Nursing ; Pharmacies ; Pharmacists* ; Pregnant Women

PURPOSE: It aimed at testing the validity and reliability of a validated team-based learning student assessment instrument (TBL-SAI) to assess United Kingdom pharmacy students' attitude toward TBL. METHODS: TBL-SAI, consisting of 33 items, was administered to undergraduate pharmacy students from two schools of pharmacy each at University of Wolverhampton and University of Bradford were conducted on the data, along with comparison between the two schools. RESULTS: Students' response rate was 80.0% (138/173) in completion of the instrument. Overall, the instrument demonstrated validity and reliability when used with pharmacy students. Sub-analysis between schools of pharmacy did, however, show that four items from Wolverhampton data, had factor loadings of less than 0.40. No item in the Bradford data had factor loadings less than 0.40. Cronbach's alpha score was reliable at 0.897 for the total instrument: Wolverhampton, 0.793 and Bradford, 0.902. Students showed preference to TBL, with Bradford's scores being statistically higher (P<0.005). CONCLUSION: This validated instrument has demonstrated reliability and validity when used with pharmacy students. Furthermore students at both schools preferred TBL compared to traditional teaching.
Great Britain* ; Humans ; Learning* ; Pharmacies ; Pharmacy* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Students, Pharmacy

This paper introduces an automatic control system for the cylindrical rotating medicine-storage which is composed of a microcontroller, a motion control chip, a motor driver, the memory, the watch dog, etc. This system is able to restore a larger amount of medicine, and the user can take the medicine more quickly, more accurately and more easily.
Automation ; instrumentation ; Drug Storage ; Equipment Design ; Pharmacies ; Software Design

Background: The incidence of hypertension and its complications continue to increase in the Philippine Army due to non-adherence resulting in poor health outcomes. Objective: This study implemented a Medication Counseling Program (MCP) for hypertensive soldiers, and assessed the effects of the program on knowledge of disease and treatment (Knowledge), attitude towards medication (Attitude), adherence to treatment (Adherence), and blood pressure (BP). It identified and categorized pharmacist interventions applied during the counseling sessions. The perceptions of patients and physicians on pharmacist's clinical roles were also determined. Methodology: The program was implemented from March to October 2015 in a government hospital for the Philippine Army. Knowledge, attitude, adherence, and BP (converted as mean arterial pressure or MAP) were measured at baseline, 30, 60, and 90th day after initial counseling. Data for pharmacist interventions were collected from patient's documentary form. The interview was conducted to patients after their 90-day counseling period and physicians after the 8-month duration of the program. Results: A total of 20 patients were enrolled in the program, but only 13 patients completed the study. Of the 62 counseling sessions conducted by the pharmacist for the 8-month period, a total of 252 pharmacist interventions were administered. Knowledge, attitude, adherence, and MAP scores improved, and 100 % of the patients achieved normal/controlled BP after the 90-day counseling period. Conclusion A pharmacist MCP intervention may improve a patient's knowledge, attitude, adherence, and BP. The program enabled the pharmacist to apply pharmacist interventions to identified drug-therapy problems of the patients and resolved these through collaboration with the physicians and cooperation of the patients.
Pharmacists ; Military Personnel ; Pharmaceutical Services ; Medication Adherence ; Pharmacies ; Hypertension ; Counseling