COVID 19 pandemic altered how people work and study. The unfamiliarity to the sudden shift to virtual/remote platforms particularly in the teaching-learning process brought poor mental health in the academe. Constituents of the College of Pharmacy in the University of the Philippines Manila is no exception. The College promoted mental health among its constituents-students, faculty, and staff, through facilitated/supervised self-care, where the usual manner is an individual kind. The approach to the management of stress was holistic to better support the current mode of teaching-learning which uses the virtual platform. Both the initiatives of faculty members and the activities offered by the administration of the college received positive responses and favorable outcomes from the participants. Further studies on the effects of the offered programs and initiatives may result in more regular events and inclusion to the Pharmacy curriculum, respectively.

COVID 19 pandemic altered how people work and study. The unfamiliarity to the sudden shift to virtual/remote platforms particularly in the teaching-learning process brought poor mental health in the academe. Constituents of the College of Pharmacy in the University of the Philippines Manila is no exception. The College promoted mental health among its constituents-students, faculty, and staff, through facilitated/supervised self-care, where the usual manner is an individual kind. The approach to the management of stress was holistic to better support the current mode of teaching-learning which uses the virtual platform. Both the initiatives of faculty members and the activities offered by the administration of the college received positive responses and favorable outcomes from the participants. Further studies on the effects of the offered programs and initiatives may result in more regular events and inclusion to the Pharmacy curriculum, respectively.
Mental Health

Background: Community pharmacists play a strategic and indispensable role as healthcare professionals with direct patient access during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, there had been no studies that document the challenges, adaptive measures, and opportunities of community pharmacy practice in the country during such period. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the challenges encountered and adaptive measures implemented by community pharmacies, and to explore opportunities of community pharmacy practice brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Methods: The study employed a qualitative, cross-sectional study design. Convenience sampling was conducted representative of chain and independent drug stores, online and other stores with service variations, and pharmacy organizations. Recruitment was pursued until data saturation with a total of 16 participants. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed through thematic analysis using NVivo 12. The study received ethical clearance for implementation from the UP Manila Research Ethics Board. Results: Results showed there were various challenges that affected both the supply- and demand- side of pharmacy operations in the community pharmacy practice during the pandemic. Due to the adaptive role of the pharmacy profession during the pandemic, there has been an increased relevance of pharmacists in public health. Furthermore, the pandemic has exhibited the need to shift to the use of e-prescriptions. However, there are limitations to its current use, such as ensuring the validity of the prescription when presented in a pharmacy. Conclusion There are several challenges encountered by community pharmacists during the pandemic. These challenges led to several adaptive measures being implemented that also became an opportunity to emphasize the vital role community pharmacists play in the healthcare system.
COVID-19 ; pandemics

Background: Based on the 2017-2020 annual report of the Department of Health-Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program, significant resistance patterns have been observed for common disease-causing pathogens. In the hospital setting, antimicrobial stewardship programs have been implemented to optimize the use of antimicrobials. Drug utilization review studies provide essential feedback to improve prescribing and use of medications. Objectives: This study aimed to review drug utilization of monitored parenteral antimicrobials among patients admitted from January to December 2019. Methods: The study employed a retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive research design. A retrospective chart review of drugs administered to patients was conducted. : Results. A total of 821 patients charts met the inclusion criteria. The patients’ ages ranged from 18 to 98 years old and 52% were females. General Internal Medicine practitioners (28%) were the top prescribers of monitored parenteral antimicrobials primarily for the management of moderate-risk community-acquired pneumonia (39%). They were mostly indicated for empirical treatment of infections (94%) and were given for an average of 5.73 days. Only 58% of the total cases had orders for culture and sensitivity testing. Of which, principally 47% had colony cultures. Blood (29%) and sputum (27%) were the most common specimens taken for culture and sensitivity testing. The microorganisms often isolated were Escherichia coli (19%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (18%), and Staphylococcus aureus (9%). In addition, extended-spectrum beta lactamase-producing gram-negative pathogens (4%) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (1%) were also isolated. All the microorganisms isolated showed most resistance to ampicillin (81%) and most susceptibility to colistin (100%). There were drug therapy-related problems encountered. There was one case of an adverse drug reaction (0.1%) and two cases of contraindications (0.2%). Therapeutic duplication was also observed in 5% of the cases. Moreover, 39% had instances of drug-drug interactions.Piperacillin-tazobactam had the highest consumption (79.50 defined daily doses/1,000-patient days) among the monitored parenteral antimicrobials. Some prescriptions were deemed inappropriate upon evaluation. 12% of cases were inappropriate based on the justification indicator. As for the critical indicators, duration of therapy (78%) was the main reason. Only four components of the DUE criteria indicators have met or exceeded the established threshold level.The cost analysis indicated that the total actual cost of therapy with the monitored parenteral antimicrobials amounted to ₱17,645,601.73. Considering Department of Health National Antibiotic Guidelines recommenda-tions, ideal total cost of treatment was ₱14,917,214.29. Potential cumulative cost savings of ₱2,728,387.44 could have been achieved for patients admitted last 2019. Conclusion Consumption of piperacillin-tazobactam was relatively high as compared to the other monitored parenteral antimicrobials covered in this study. Physicians at the study site seldom prescribe monitored parenteral antimicrobials as recommended by the National Antibiotic Guidelines. This is evidenced in the incidence of inappropriate therapy regimens, with inapt duration of therapy as the leading explanation.From the patient’s perspective, the main economic implication was on the direct medical costs, particularly the increased cost of the actual antimicrobial therapy prescribed to manage various infections. Adherence of physicians to the established guidelines and selection of the most cost-effective therapy could have resulted in considerable cost savings.
Drug Utilization Review ; Antimicrobial Stewardship