Pharmacy In India Research Articles

Knowledge attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among community pharmacy in India: a questionnaire study

Knowledge attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among community pharmacy in India: a questionnaire study

Transformation in Indian health care: the Tata 1mg merger story

Learning outcomes This case study would enable students to understand the concept, process and advantages of mergers and acquisitions as a growth strategy with respect to 1mg. Also, the students would be able to use the threats, opportunities, weaknesses and strengths matrix to map 1mg’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Case overview/synopsis This case study analyses the transformation journey of 1mg to Tata 1mg, one of the most trusted internet pharmacies in India. This case describes a small start-up that was launched in 2013 and had made many acquisitions since then. This case revolves around Tata Digital’s purchase of 1mg. The case starts out by explaining 1mg’s financial situation and why the company was acquired. This case study focuses on how the integration helped Tata Digital and 1mg realize their respective missions. Furthermore, the case study illustrates the benefits and difficulties of this integration. Complexity academic level This case study is basically aimed at postgraduate management students; it can be used in strategic management and health-care courses. Students can understand the concept of diversification and acquisition with the help of this case study. Students can also gain an insight into the organic and inorganic diversification as a growth strategy. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Private pharmacies as healthcare providers in Odisha, India: analysis and implications for universal health coverage

IntroductionIn India, as in many low-income and middle-income countries, the private sector provides a large share of health care. Pharmacies represent a major share of private care, yet there are...

A Comprehensive Review of E-service Quality and Comparative Study Between Online Pharmacies in India: 1mg and PharmEasy

E-pharmacies have become the latest trend all over the world, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2019. While buying online, along with the products/medicines in case of e-pharmacies, people also expect a user-friendly website, prompt and safe delivery, data and payment security, and convenient customer services. Hence, e-pharmacy organizations should satisfy all these factors to be the best in the market, enhance customer experience, and increase customer’s repurchasing intentions. The objective of this research is to compare the e-service quality between two of the top e-pharmacies in India—Tata 1mg and API Holdings Private Limited’s PharmEasy—using the e-service quality hierarchical model developed by Blut (2016). E-service quality is evaluated and compared using the following dimensions: website/application design, customer service, security/privacy, fulfillment, and overall e-service quality from the consumer’s perspective. Findings of the study reveal that there was no significant difference in the quality of dimensions—website design and customer service between 1mg and PharmEasy—while there is a significant difference in the quality of fulfillment, security/privacy, and overall e-service quality between 1mg and PharmEasy.

Perceived Use Behavior of Social Networking Sites Among the Healthcare Students in India.

The use of social networking sites (SNSs) is growing among higher education students, including healthcare students. Nonetheless, limited research has examined the perceived use behavior among healthcare students in developing countries such as India. This study attempts to assess the use behavior of SNSs by undergraduate students in the fields of nursing and pharmacy in India through the lens of Connectivism and New Social Learning theories. The study used a Google form to collect data through an online questionnaire. A sample of 483 participants included 258 Bachelor of Science in Nursing students, 161 General Nursing and Midwifery students, and 64 Bachelor of Pharmacy students from various Indian nursing and pharmacy schools. The majority of the respondents prefer to use SNSs for several purposes such as watching academic videos on YouTube, sharing their ideas, thoughts, and current development in their respective fields through WhatsApp, getting job-related information from different Facebook pages, etc. A substantial number of nursing students believed that these SNSs help them build relationships with professionals across the country. At the same time, many students also indicated that extensive use of SNSs might cause sleep difficulties, data privacy concerns, and a lack of focus while studying. To have an impact on how SNSs are used in healthcare education, more attention should be paid to build connectivism between educators and their students on social learning environment, which the findings of this study's suggestions could be put into practice.

Adoption of online pharmacies in India: an empirical study

Adoption of online pharmacies in India: an empirical study

Healthcare Optimization, Medication Management and Preparedness in Retail Pharmacy Industry during the Covid-19 Pandemic in India

BODY: Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a health crisis,which has almost impacted every industry, causing steep inroadsinto the global economy, and the pharmaceutical industryis no exception. Retail pharmacists are the most approachableand immediate healthcare aid to the general public. Pharmacistscan implement guidance and best practices in responseto the rapidly changing COVID-19 pandemic to ensure patientand staff safety and the approaches pharmacy teams acrossthe country. Social distancing and lockdown measures taken bythe Indian government have been greatly affected by the retailpharmacy industry, leading to disruption in the supply chainof medicines and other precautionary equipment. Medicationmanagement, necessary safety equipment, and preparednessfor handling drug shortages are the focus points for the retailpharmacy industry in these times of the pandemic. As the retailpharmacy comes under essential services and is operatingcontinuously during the lockdown period, there is a need tohighlight and gauge the preparedness and preventive measuresundertaken by pharmacists in India during this medicalemergency.AIM: This research aims to analyze the retail pharmacy administrationin India towards essential medication, to check adherenceto key preventative measures and activities performed ininpatient counseling for self-management and safe dispensingof medicines in COVID-19 & lockdown period and the barriersfaced/concerns towards these measures.METHODOLOGY: This study is based on methods of quantitativeanalysis from retail pharmacies in India. The survey questionnairewas drafted on Google forms and sent to various retailpharmacy outlets. The data pertains to various medications’storage and consumption pattern, concerns over day-to-dayactivities in the pharmacy, and preventive measures implementedby pharmacists towards COVID-19 preparedness.RESULT: 167 pharmacists addressed the questionnaire acrossvarious regions of the country by different types of pharmacy:community pharmacy (66.5%), retail pharmacy section in a private(14.4%) and public hospital (11.4%), and clinical pharmacy(7.8%). The statements developed for the study are closely related,and a good Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.881 was achieved.One-way ANOVA testing determined that out of 12 statementson the preparedness of pharmacy, nine statements showed asignificant difference concerning the types of pharmacy implementingthe preventive measures.

Pulmonary and intranasal delivery of thymoquinone-loaded nanoparticles for Mucormycosis & Covid-19

<img src=” https://s3.amazonaws.com/production.scholastica/article/24963/large/prnano_682021ga.jpg?1624303365”> India is currently reporting a massive increase of mucormycosis infection among Covid-19 patients. The opportunistic black fungus infection affects the lungs and the brain. Depending on the infected organs, morbidity and mortality rates are between 50% and 100%. To save patients’ life, it is frequently necessary to remove jaws and eyes. The drug of the first choice for the treatment of mucormycosis in the subcontinent is amphotericin B. There are two problems with amphotericin B: First, it is currently not available in many pharmacies in India, and second, its effect is restricted by its limited passage across the blood-brain barrier. Recently, it was shown that thymol is highly effective against Rhizopus oryzea, the fungus causing 70% of mucormycosis. In contrast to amphotericin B, which in the case of mucormycosis is administered intravenously, thymol can reach the lungs via inhalation and the brain via the nose-to-brain route. Importantly, thymoquinone (TQ) has all the relevant biological properties of thymol and has already been successfully used to treat Covid-19, as demonstrated in clinical studies. In addition to the action spectrum of thymol, TQ can act as a reactive oxygen species and oxidize pathogens upon contact, thereby recommending itself for both treatment of Covid-19 and infections with the black fungus. For maximum efficacy, comprising biodistribution, bioavailability, and drug functionality, we describe innovative strategies based on nanomedicines for targeted delivery of TQ to the lungs and intranasal delivery to the brain, bypassing the blood-brain barrier. After these promising strategies as the next step, a clinical study for proof of concept should be initiated.

Cheaper Medicines for the Better Off? A Comparison of Medicine Prices and Client Socioeconomic Status Between Chain and Independent Retail Pharmacies in Urban India.

Background: The growth of chain pharmacies in India, and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), is challenging the status quo of pharmacy retail markets which have historically been dominated by independent pharmacies. This raises the question of whether such organisations will have a positive impact on affordability and access to medicines. Methods: This paper draws on a standardised patient (SP) survey to measure the prices of medicines and expenditure on consultations for two tracer conditions (suspected tuberculosis [TB] in an adult and diarrhoea in an absent child) at a random sample of 230 chain and independent pharmacies in Bengaluru. Asset data were collected from 808 exit interviews with pharmacy customers to determine socioeconomic profiles of clients. Results: Chain pharmacies were found to provide lower priced medicines for patients seeking care for diarrhoea and TB, with expenditure also lower for diarrhoea patients, compared to independent pharmacies. This was seemingly driven by lower prices rather than number of medicines dispensed or prescribing habits. Despite the availability of cheaper medicines, chains served wealthier clients, compared to independent pharmacies.Conclusion: The findings indicate the potential for chains to contribute to improving medicine affordability as they expand. However, any attempt to leverage this organisational model for public health good would need to take account of the current client-mix of these pharmacies and be accompanied by appropriate regulatory constraints in order to realise the potential benefits for poorer groups.

Trends in the availability of the vulture-toxic drug, diclofenac, and other NSAIDs in South Asia, as revealed by covert pharmacy surveys

SummaryThe catastrophic declines of three species of ‘Critically Endangered’ Gyps vultures in South Asia were caused by unintentional poisoning by the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac. Despite a ban on its veterinary use in 2006 (India, Nepal, Pakistan) and 2010 (Bangladesh), residues of diclofenac have continued to be found in cattle carcasses and in dead wild vultures. Another NSAID, meloxicam, has been shown to be safe to vultures. From 2012 to 2018, we undertook covert surveys of pharmacies in India, Nepal and Bangladesh to investigate the availability and prevalence of NSAIDs for the treatment of livestock. The purpose of the study was to establish whether diclofenac continued to be sold for veterinary use, whether the availability of meloxicam had increased and to determine which other veterinary NSAIDs were available. The availability of diclofenac declined in all three countries, virtually disappearing from pharmacies in Nepal and Bangladesh, highlighting the advances made in these two countries to reduce this threat to vultures. In India, diclofenac still accounted for 10–46% of all NSAIDs offered for sale for livestock treatment in 2017, suggesting weak enforcement of existing regulations and a continued high risk to vultures. Availability of meloxicam increased in all countries and was the most common veterinary NSAID in Nepal (89.9% in 2017). Although the most widely available NSAID in India in 2017, meloxicam accounted for only 32% of products offered for sale. In Bangladesh, meloxicam was less commonly available than the vulture-toxic NSAID ketoprofen (28% and 66%, respectively, in 2018), despite the partial government ban on ketoprofen in 2016. Eleven different NSAIDs were recorded, several of which are known or suspected to be toxic to vultures. Conservation priorities should include awareness raising, stricter implementation of current bans, bans on other vulture-toxic veterinary NSAIDs, especially aceclofenac and nimesulide, and safety-testing of other NSAIDs on Gyps vultures to identify safe and toxic drugs.

Supply Chain Performance in the era of Digitisation: The role of Electronic Supply Chain Management

The advancements in information technology have enabled the supply chain members to share real-time information, which further facilitates the integration of supply chain members. Since supply chain integration is a prerequisite in achieving superior supply chain performance, the objective of the current study is to determine the relationship between IT-enabled supply chain management (e-supply chain management), supply chain integration, information sharing and the performance of supply chain as a whole. Also, many authors are of the view that e-SCM and information sharing can positively enhance the integration among supply chain members, thus, another objective is to determine whether supply chain integration mediates the relationship between e-SCM and supply chain performance or not. Similar relationship is tested with information sharing as a mediator. For this, samples of 293 respondents are taken from the pharmaceutical manufacturing units and pharmacies in India. Structural equation modelling is applied to test these relationships.

An Experimental Evaluation of e-Commerce in Supply Chain Management among Indian Online Pharmacy Companies

Supply Chain Management is an external interface of logistics systems of the organizations with its clients, stakeholders and all other outsourcing parties with the aim to provide best services to all the customers. In India, the supply chain system plays a very important role in delivering the products to the customers. Due to the digitalization, most of the people purchase the products online, so role of e-commerce in supply chain management is going to be very crucial. This research paper shows about the online pharmacy system in India. The ides of this research paper is to present the state-of-the-art e-commerce logistics system of pharmacy in India. In this research paper, the researchers approach typical e-commerce companies which are deal in online pharmacy in India. The practical and social implication of this research paper is that awareness about online pharmacy among Indian citizens, so that they can purchase their medicines from at home and this will save the time and cost.

Availability and affordability of essential medicines for diabetes across high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a prospective epidemiological study

Data are scarce on the availability and affordability of essential medicines for diabetes. Our aim was to examine the availability and affordability of metformin, sulfonylureas, and insulin across multiple regions of the world and explore the effect of these on medicine use. In the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study, participants aged 35-70 years (n=156 625) were recruited from 110 803 households, in 604 communities and 22 countries; availability (presence of any dose of medication in the pharmacy on the day of audit) and medicine cost data were collected from pharmacies with the Environmental Profile of a Community's Health audit tool. Our primary analysis was to describe the availability and affordability of metformin and insulin and also commonly used and prescribed combinations of two medicines for diabetes management (two oral drugs, metformin plus a sulphonylurea [either glibenclamide (also known as glyburide) or gliclazide] and one oral drug plus insulin [metformin plus insulin]). Medicines were defined as affordable if the cost of medicines was less than 20% of capacity-to-pay (the household income minus food expenditure). Our analyses included data collected in pharmacies and data from representative samples of households. Data on availability were ascertained during the pharmacy audit, as were data on cost of medications. These cost data were used to estimate the cost of a month's supply of essential medicines for diabetes. We estimated affordability of medicines using income data from household surveys. Metformin was available in 113 (100%) of 113 pharmacies from high-income countries, 112 (88·2%) of 127 pharmacies in upper-middle-income countries, 179 (86·1%) of 208 pharmacies in lower-middle-income countries, 44 (64·7%) of 68 pharmacies in low-income countries (excluding India), and 88 (100%) of 88 pharmacies in India. Insulin was available in 106 (93·8%) pharmacies in high-income countries, 51 (40·2%) pharmacies in upper-middle-income countries, 61 (29·3%) pharmacies in lower-middle-income countries, seven (10·3%) pharmacies in lower-income countries, and 67 (76·1%) of 88 pharmacies in India. We estimated 0·7% of households in high-income countries and 26·9% of households in low-income countries could not afford metformin and 2·8% of households in high-income countries and 63·0% of households in low-income countries could not afford insulin. Among the 13 569 (8·6% of PURE participants) that reported a diagnosis of diabetes, 1222 (74·0%) participants reported diabetes medicine use in high-income countries compared with 143 (29·6%) participants in low-income countries. In multilevel models, availability and affordability were significantly associated with use of diabetes medicines. Availability and affordability of essential diabetes medicines are poor in low-income and middle-income countries. Awareness of these global differences might importantly drive change in access for patients with diabetes. Full funding sources listed at the end of the paper (see Acknowledgments).

Understanding the Career Opportunities of Clinical Pharmacy in India

This review highlighted on understanding the career opportunities available in India for Clinical Pharmacy practitioners. Clinical pharmacy is a health science discipline which deals with providing patient care that optimizes medication therapy and promotes health, and disease prevention. To improve the status of this field in India a new course, Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) was introduced a decade ago. The students pursuing this course are uncertain and misled about the career options of clinical pharmacy. Due to lack of awareness and skills among the budding pharmacists as well as the lack of guidance by academicians and academic institutions, it is really becoming difficult for the students to understand the areas where they can pursue their career. There are diverse fields in which Pharm.D students can pursue their career such as pharmacovigilance, health economics and outcome research, clinical research, medical writing, academics and research. However, clinical pharmacy and its practitioners have fewer acceptances in the healthcare system and among the general public. Due to lack of awareness among the Indian population, dominance of the clinicians in the healthcare field, lack of initiatives by the governing authorities to mandate the role of clinical pharmacist in the government sector this field is not well established. Therefore, it is high time for the budding pharmacists to focus on such an embrasure of the healthcare scenario and to understand and utilize the available opportunities. The present situation might be discouraging for the individuals pursuing their study in clinical pharmacy but, there is a wide scope and demand for the graduates in clinical pharmacy and no opportunity is small.

Development of hospital pharmacy in India

Development of hospital pharmacy in India

Job Satisfaction among Indian Pharmacists: An Exploration of Affecting Variables and Suggestions for Improvement in Pharmacist Role.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the level of job satisfaction among Indian pharmacists, and factors associated with job satisfaction. The study also explored the suggestions of pharmacist to improve the profession of pharmacy in India. Methods: A cross sectional web-based study was conducted on working pharmacists in India, using a validated questionnaire for a period of 2 months. The participants were contacted via email and social websites and data was collected by using web-based survey. The data were coded and entered to statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20. The responses to the questionnaire were analyzed by performing descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The satisfaction rate of pharmacists was 17.5%. Similar numbers of pharmacist were satisfied with promotional opportunities at their workplace. 68.7% participants believed the reason for dissatisfaction was irresponsible government policies which hamper pharmacists from seeking jobs compared with other professionals. Majority of pharmacists agreed with the suggestion of determining payscale on the basis of both qualification and experience (85.1%) followed by 84.8% who agreed that pharmacy degree should be deemed essential to acquire registration. Age, qualification and practice setting were significantly associated with differences in mean satisfaction score (p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, pharmacists were not satisfied with their jobs. A nation-wide study is warranted to further establish the satisfaction of pharmacists with their jobs. A further need to look at the intrinsic and extrinsic factors associated with pharmacist satisfaction can aid the development of suitable interventions to improve the same.

E-pharmacies Regulation in India: Bringing New Dimensions to Pharma Sector

Buying drugs/medicines online is the latest trend amongst the Indian patients and consumers. With this increasing trend of buying medicines online, number of online pharmacies also increase. But there is lack of proper regulatory checks and balances for exercising regulatory control over e-pharmacies. This eventually leads to flourishing of e-pharmacies like mushrooms. There are several other factors also which fuel the gearing up of epharmacies like increased number of netizens, long term illness patients and increased chronic diseases. As we all know India is the country of youngsters and they are spending more and more time on internet through mobile or computer. Due to the advancement of technology, access of drugs through Internet is very easy for common man. Numbers of internet users in India have been increased continuously since 2000. This is the high time for the epharmacy model to grow with the drastically increasing netizens, smart phone users and patients. E-pharmacies business is growing very fast in India although its mechanism of regulation is not decided yet. The success of the model is not guaranteed in shaky and cloudy regulatory regime but its graph is going higher day by day. There is lack of proper and clear laws for e-pharmacies. The laws governing Pharmacies in India are derived from Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940; Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945; Pharmacy Act, 1948; Indian Medical Act, 1956 and Code of Ethics Regulations, 2002 etc. E-pharmacies come under the purview of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Information Technology Act, 2000. But current Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 doesn’t distinguish between online and offline pharmacies. It seems e-pharmacies may not abide by these regulations and bypass them. Regulatory authorities finds it difficult to control, monitor and track sell of drugs via internet as there is lack of clear guidelines in India regarding the same. E-pharmacy may be proved as dangerous trend in future if not regulated properly.

Pharmacy-based dispensing of antimicrobial agents without prescription in India: appropriateness and cost burden in the private sector.

BackgroundInappropriate antibiotic use for treatment of common self-limiting infections is a major problem worldwide. We conducted this study to determine prevalence of non-prescription sale of antimicrobial drugs by pharmacies in Bangalore, India, and to assess their associated avoidable cost within the Indian private healthcare sector.MethodsBetween 2013 and 2014, two researchers visited 261 pharmacies with simulated clinical scenarios; upper respiratory tract infection in an adult and acute gastroenteritis in a child. Using a pre-defined algorithm, the researchers recorded questions asked by the pharmacist, details of medicines dispensed, and instructions regarding drug allergies, dose and side effects.ResultsAntimicrobial drugs were obtained without prescription from 174 of 261 (66.7 %) pharmacies visited. Instructions regarding dose of these drugs were given by only 58.0 % pharmacies. Only 18.4 % (16/87) of non-antimicrobial-dispensing pharmacies cited the need for a prescription by a medical practitioner. None gave advice on potential side effects or possible drug allergies. In the upper respiratory infection simulation, 82 (71.3 %) of the 115 pharmacies approached dispensed antimicrobials without a prescription. The most common antimicrobial drug prescribed was amoxicillin (51.2 %), followed by azithromycin and ciprofloxacin (12.2 % each). Among 146 pharmacies where acute gastroenteritis was simulated, 92 (63.0 %) dispensed antimicrobials. Common ones were fluoroquinolones (66.3 %), particularly norfloxacin in combination with metronidazole. Standard treatment for diarrhea such as oral rehydration solution and zinc was prescribed by only 18 of 146 (12.3 %) pharmacies. Assuming the average cost of a 5-day course of common antimicrobials in India is $1.93, with 2.5 and 2.1 annual episodes of adult upper respiratory and childhood gastrointestinal infections respectively, and with 30–45 % of the population of 1.3 billion visiting pharmacies, the estimated cost of unnecessary antimicrobial drugs dispensed by pharmacies in India would range from $1.1 to 1.7 billion.ConclusionsThe study shows that dispensing of antimicrobial drugs without prescription by pharmacies in the private sector in India within an urban setting was unacceptably high, thus placing a high burden on healthcare expenditure. There is an urgent need to institute measures to curb unnecessary antimicrobial usage in India, address market incentives and involve pharmacists as partners for creating awareness among communities.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13756-015-0098-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Public health and patient care aspects in Indian pharmacy curriculum: A comparison between DPharm, BPharm, and PharmD programs

BackgroundThere are about one million registered pharmacists practicing in both community and hospital pharmacies in India. Since the public health services do not cater to the entire population, pharmacies can play a major role in the health care system in India. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare the Indian pharmacy curriculum of DPharm, BPharm, and PharmD programs to see overall differences with a focus on the amount of time devoted for public health, patient care, and pharmacy practice aspects. Study designThe DPharm and PharmD curricula were included as prescribed by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), and the BPharm curriculum was derived from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Duration of the selected curriculum programs is given in number of hours in four core areas according to the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) criteria, which is used for comparison. Results and conclusionThe results indicate that DPharm and BPharm are industry focused, and only the PharmD is focused on clinical pharmacy and patient-oriented services. DPharm holders are the mainstays of pharmacy practice in India, but their degree least contains patient care and public health aspects. There is a gap in curriculum, particularly at DPharm level. This needs to be addressed in future studies and curriculum development actions, as well as in pharmacists’ continuing education and professional development programs.

Objective Structured Clinical Examination in Pharm D and Clinical Pharmacy Courses in India; a Rising Need to Acquaint?

At hand is a rising need to acquaint with objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) as a part of pharmacy exams in India. OSCE is a recognized, consistent, and active assessment to valuate professional skills in an impartial and an obvious method. All OSCE station desires to obligate a marking scheme that covers communication skills and content skills assessing the chores expected from the students. Mostly, OSCE stations have active, preparatory and rest stations. These stations may comprise with clinical focused contents. This paper is an initiative to start OSCE in pharmacy; it investigates the characteristics of OSCE stations and summaries the foots to contrivance OSCE. Also, significant matters resembling the benefits of OSCE, its limits, fortes, flaws, chances, and the scheduling of OSCE in pharmacy are also roofed. The OSCE format in pharmacy and its stations needs to be validated, certified, and finalized before its use in exams. This may require approval from the pharmacy council of India and all India council of technical education. More round table discussions are required. But there will be a tremendous challenge for the students and staff members of pharmacy in India to incorporate OSCE in pharmacy exams.