Street Pharmacies Research Articles

Accessing ART in Malawi while living in South Africa – a thematic analysis of qualitative data from undocumented Malawian migrants

ABSTRACTThe majority of international migrants from Malawi to South Africa are undocumented, and some of them are on ART. This study explored how these migrants manage to access ART. Qualitative data were collected using open-ended questions in semi-structured interviews. 23 returned undocumented Malawian migrants from South Africa participated in the study. Also, key informant discussions were held with three health workers. Data collection took place in April and May 2015 at a rural village of Namwera in Mangochi district in southern Malawi. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and translated into English for thematic analysis. The guardians collected ART from health facilities in Malawi on behalf of the migrants. The guardians sent ART through truck and bus drivers to the migrants in South Africa. The migrants shared their ART. Others bought ART from the ‘street pharmacies’. Others accessed ART from South African health facilities through the help of their South African friends. There are risks to dispensing ART to the migrants who do not themselves present at health facilities. There is value to more regular contacts between clients and health service system that is compromised by alternative strategies. It is better to deliver ART services in South Africa to the undocumented migrants.

Counterfeit drugs and the online pharmaceutical trade, a threat to public safety

Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are a serious and ever-growing threat to public safety. Monitoring the trade is difficult, resulting in the precise scale of the problem being unknown, however evidence shows that it is not just lifestyle drugs that are targeted nowadays. Adverse health problems, including fatalities, have resulted from consumers self-medicating with counterfeit products. Without efforts to enhance the public's knowledge, the problem will continue to persist. The internet is facilitating the trade by providing counterfeiters with a large consumer base and limited risks. The dark net within it allows for anonymous transactions between manufacturer, distributer and consumer. While some online pharmacies are legitimate, there are a growing number of those that are unverified which sell dangerous counterfeit products. Both the packaging and medication are becoming increasingly sophisticated, making it difficult for consumers and law enforcement to identify them without chemical analysis. Counterfeit batches have also been detected in established legal trade routes whereby they are able to, if undetected, end up in high street pharmacies and hospitals. Multiple organisations have set up worldwide operations to dismantle the trade however this is a complex and evolving problem that without significant changes to legislation may never be fully.

Government should make health checks available through high street pharmacies, says RPS

Government should make health checks available through high street pharmacies, says RPS

PharmacisttS Professional Feature Sand Work Gratification

Pharmacists have the opportunity to play a greater role in shaping health care delivery with patients, especially those with chronic diseases. Pharmacists experience includes management therapy treatment, preventive health services and primary health care. These services are most effective when the pharmacist is included in large multidisciplinary teams. Responsibility of the druggist includes specters of care for patients, from distribution of medicines to control of patient health and progress to maximize their answer to medicine. Druggists train consumers and patients on use of drug instructions. Chemists advise doctors, nurses, and other improving professionals about using medicine. Pharmacists taking more clinical roles that have traditionally been made by doctors, such as management of asthma and diabetes, as well as testing blood pressure. They also help people stop smoking, change diet to make them healthier and advice on sexual health matters. Some pharmacists have their own business and enjoy the financial management tasks and responsibilities of personnel. Others work for large networks in the street pharmacy. While some chains pharmacists dispensing with traditional roles of content medicine and patient education. Today, thousands of the chain pharmacists are certified to vaccinate patients against influenza and pneumonia, and many also earn a nationally recognized authority in pharmacy administration in areas of disease mileage, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and anticoagulation therapy. There are also many other features of patient care, including the cessation of smoking, recipes specialty herbs and other alternative drug therapy and screening programs such detect osteoporosis and high cholesterol. Pharmacists assist patients to assume a more active role in their health. Work gratification is described at this point as pleasant or positive emotional state the evaluation of their work or work experience. The results of pharmacist work gratification from the perception that performs its task, or allows the execution of its own important values job, provided that to extent that these values are comparable to their needs. Work gratification is affective and emotional response to the various aspects of work. Pharmacist work gratification or dissatisfaction plays an important role in many aspects of pharmacy practice. Article shows that poor work gratification is directly related to the implementation, especially for professionals like...

Accuracy of blood pressure monitors available in high street pharmacies.

The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of automated blood pressure monitors on sale to the UK general public. We conducted static pressure accuracy testing on all compatible (19 out of 22 available) blood pressure monitors available for sale in pharmacies within the city of Oxford, UK, and tested two devices for accuracy in measurement of systolic and diastolic blood pressures in 21 adults. The devices showed good accuracy when measuring static pressure in laboratory bench testing, with the median error per device ranging from -2.2 to +1.2 mmHg; however, the two devices tested performed worse in vivo than in laboratory tests, with median errors as high as 6 mmHg. The monitors showed good accuracy in static pressure testing, with a lack of correlation between monitor price and accuracy. However, higher error rates seen during in-vivo testing of a subset of monitors may indicate that static testing may not be appropriate for routine accuracy assessment of these monitors.

High street pharmacies and opticians should work together to help manage minor eye conditions

High street pharmacies and opticians should work together to help manage minor eye conditions

Medication non-adherence in the homeless population in an Intermountain West city

Background: Homelessness happens when people or household are unable to acquire and/or maintain housing they can afford. Approximately 17% of homeless individuals are also chronically ill. Studies have often not objectively measured medication non- adherence among the homeless population, probably due to lack of consistent pharmacy records. This study proposed to objectively estimate medication non-adherence to chronic medications among the homeless population in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 Methods: A retrospective study design was used based on the pharmacy records from the Fourth Street Pharmacy based on four classes of chronic medications - asthma, diabetes, statins, and psychiatric medications. Data was collected between November 1, 2010 and February 28, 2011 on the variables: date of original prescription, number of refills on the original prescription, date of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fills, age, gender, and race. Primary non-adherence and medication refill non-adherence based on Continuous Measure of Medication Gaps were calculated.
 Results: The medication refill non-adherence rate was 38.8% with asthma medications, 38.5% with diabetic medications, 27.2% with statins, and 47.1% with psychiatric medications. The primary non-adherence rate varied from zero percent to 20%.
 Conclusion: The study concluded that this population has comparable non-adherence rates with asthma, diabetes, cholesterol lowering, and certain psychiatric medications than the general population.
 
 Type: Original Research

PP40 An Ethnic Minority Cohort of Young People – Feasibility of follow-up in Early Adulthood?

BackgroundUnder-representation of ethnic minorities in cohort studies is common. The Determinants of (now) Adult Social well-being and Health (DASH) study examines how interaction of social and biological exposures influences ethnic...

The IMPACT of teamwork

The IMPACT of teamwork

Human chorionic gonadotropin as a model for a fetal antigen.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) has an important biological function and has clinical use as a hormone, yet its applications as an antigen are also numerous. Pregnancy tests have brought immunological reactions into the high street pharmacy and the home. As a secreted antigen hCG provides for choriocarcinoma of gestational or germ cell origin our closest approximation to the ideal tumour marker. It is unique in providing the basis of a biochemical screening test for a specific cancer in a high risk population. It has a valuable role in diagnosis and prognosis and in monitoring this disease and detecting tumours is unknown. It has been investigated as a target for radioimmunolocalization studies with 131I-labelled anti-hCG antibodies, and found useful in some patients. Attempts have been made to improve the technique using liposomes containing a second antibody. As a target for antibody therapy in fertility control and oncology, by active or passive immunization methods, much depends on whether hCG functions as a cell membrane antigen.