Articles

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

Generic prescription drug price increases: which products will be affected by proposed anti-gouging legislation?

In the United States (U.S.), large price increases for selected generic drugs have elicited public outrage. Recent legislative proposals aim to increase price transparency and identify outlier drug “price spik...

Authors: Rena M. Conti, Kevin H. Nguyen and Meredith B. Rosenthal

Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice towards disposal of unused and expired pharmaceuticals among community in Harar city, Eastern Ethiopia

Pharmaceuticals are produced and consumed in increasing volume every year. Unfortunately, not all medications that go in to the hand of the consumers get consumed; large quantities remain unused or expire. The...

Authors: Yohanes Ayele and Mulu Mamu

Prescription drug coverage in Canada: a review of the economic, policy and political considerations for universal pharmacare

Canadians have long been proud of their universal health insurance system, which publicly funds the cost of physician visits and hospitalizations at the point of care. Prescription drugs however, have been sub...

Authors: Jaden Brandt, Brenna Shearer and Steven G. Morgan

Access to innovative cancer medicines in a middle-income country - the case of Mexico

Cancer has become the third cause of death in Mexico. Treatment for cancer is often complex and lengthy. New and better medicines enter the market at high prices, which may limit access. Like most Latin Americ...

Authors: Daniela Moye-Holz, Rene Soria Saucedo, Jitse P van Dijk, Sijmen A Reijneveld and Hans V Hogerzeil

Investigation of prescribing behavior at outpatient settings of governmental hospitals in eastern Ethiopia: an overall evaluation beyond World Health Organization core prescribing indicators

Rational prescribing remains an important component of rational drug use. The World Health Organization (WHO) standardized and validated core prescribing indicators for evaluating prescribing pattern of drugs....

Authors: Tigist Gashaw, Mekonnen Sisay, Getnet Mengistu and Firehiwot Amare

Pharmaceutical system strengthening in Uganda: implementing a holistic, evidence-informed, long-term strategy

A strong pharmaceutical sector is a precondition for effective and efficient health care and financing systems, and thus for achieving the best possible health of a population. Supported by visionary, long-ter...

Authors: Martin Oteba, Anita Katharina Wagner, Morries Seru, Martha Embrey and Birna Trap

Trade agreements and drug access: assessment of the impact of the 2009 Peruvian new drug policy on anti-infectives registration and availability

The United States-Peru Free Trade Agreement required changes in the Peruvian pharmaceutical legislation that resulted in the National Drug Policy (NDP) of 2009. This study evaluated the registration of brand a...

Authors: Lita Araujo and Michael Montagne

Country ownership and sustainability of Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS Supply Chain System: qualitative perceptions of progress, challenges and prospects

The emergency response phase to HIV epidemic in Nigeria and other countries saw to the deployment of donors’ resources with little consideration for country ownership (CO) and sustainability. The progress that...

Authors: Ademola Joshua Itiola and Kenneth Anene Agu

An analysis of pharmacy workforce capacity in Nigeria

Pharmacists are critical for attaining the goal of universal health coverage and equitable access to essential health services, particularly in relation to access to medicines and medicines expertise. We descr...

Authors: Aniekan Ekpenyong, Arit Udoh, Eneyi Kpokiri and Ian Bates

The impact of clinical services provided by community pharmacies on the Australian healthcare system: a review of the literature

In Australia, community pharmacists are increasingly being integrated into the healthcare system. A range of services in pharmacies are government-funded aiming to prevent chronic diseases and improve the qual...

Authors: Vera H. Buss, Alison Shield, Sam Kosari and Mark Naunton

Perceptions of the Malaysian general public on community pharmacy-based weight management services

Obesity is now widely regarded as a main contributor to poor health. Involvement of community pharmacists can be a valuable tool in obesity management. However, there is still a lack of data in Malaysia on the...

Authors: Rohit Kumar Verma, Thomas Paraidathathu, Nur Akmar Taha and Wei Wen Chong

NPS MedicineWise: 20 years of change

The cost and potential harms of medicines and other health technologies are issues of concern for governments and third party payers of health care. Various means have been demonstrated to promote appropriate ...

Authors: Lynn Maria Weekes, Suzanne Blogg, Sharene Jackson and Kerren Hosking

A qualitative exploration of knowledge, attitudes and practices of hospital pharmacists towards adverse drug reaction reporting system in Lahore, Pakistan

Medication safety is a major public health concern and there are well established pharmacovigilance programmes in developed countries. However, there is scarcity of literature on the issue in low and middle in...

Authors: Rabia Hussain, Mohamed Azmi Hassali, Furqan Hashmi and Maryam Farooqui

Comment on Hernandez-Vasquez et al., a bibliometric analysis of the global research on biosimilars

A bibliometric analysis provided by Hernandez-Vasquez et al. listed the institutions that have published most extensively in the field of biosimilars. Sandoz and Novartis International were considered as separ...

Authors: Hillel P. Cohen

Article 2: Longitudinal study assessing the one-year effects of supervision performance assessment and recognition strategy (SPARS) to improve medicines management in Uganda health facilities

In late 2010, Uganda introduced a supervision, performance assessment, and recognition strategy (SPARS) to improve staff capacity in medicines management in government and private not-for-profit health facilit...

Authors: Birna Trap, Richard Musoke, Anthony Kirunda, Martin Olowo Oteba, Martha Embrey and Dennis Ross-Degnan

Regulatory requirements for the registration of generic medicines and format of drug dossiers: procedures in Sri Lanka in comparison with selected regulatory authorities

The regulatory requirements for approval of generic medicines and the format of compiling drug dossiers vary among regulatory authorities. The variation is particularly wide between High-income countries (HIC)...

Authors: D. Thambavita, P. Galappatthy and R. L. Jayakody

Assessment of primary labeling of medicines manufactured by Nepalese pharmaceutical industries

Appropriate labeling of marketed medicines is necessary to fulfill the regulatory provisions and ensure patient medication safety. This study aimed to assess the primary labeling of medicines manufactured and ...

Authors: Ramesh Sharma Poudel, Shakti Shrestha, Santosh Thapa, Bhupendra Kumar Poudel and Muniraj Chhetri

Provider preferences for postoperative analgesia in obese and non-obese patients undergoing ambulatory surgery

Few guidelines exist on safe prescription of postoperative analgesia to obese patients undergoing ambulatory surgery. This study examines the preferences of providers in the standard treatment of postoperative...

Authors: Anthony H. Bui, David L. Feldman, Michael L. Brodman, Peter Shamamian, Ronald N. Kaleya, Meg A. Rosenblatt, Debra D’Angelo, Donna Somerville, Santosh Mudiraj, Patricia Kischak and I. Michael Leitman

Evaluating inter-rater reliability of indicators to assess performance of medicines management in health facilities in Uganda

To build capacity in medicines management, the Uganda Ministry of Health introduced a nationwide supervision, performance assessment and recognition strategy (SPARS) in 2012. Medicines management supervisors (...

Authors: Belinda Blick, Stella Nakabugo, Laura F. Garabedian, Morries Seru and Birna Trap

The Belgian commitment to pharmaceutical quality: a model policy to improve quality assurance of medicines available through humanitarian and development programs

Today, a combination of globalization of pharmaceutical production, lack of regulatory harmonization, and weakness of Medicines Regulatory Authorities, creates the “perfect conditions” for poor-quality medicin...

Authors: Raffaella Ravinetto, Tim Roosen and Catherine Dujardin

Weaving the health and pharmaceutical care agenda through the themes of the commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM), London 2018

The biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) this year is based around four key themes: prosperity, fairness, sustainability and security. This is an opportune time to consider the role of pha...

Authors: Victoria Rutter, Amy Hai Yan Chan, Chloe Tuck, Lina Bader, Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar and Ian Bates

Insights into early stage of antibiotic development in small- and medium-sized enterprises: a survey of targets, costs, and durations

Antibiotic innovation has dwindled to dangerously low levels in the past 30 years. Since resistance continues to evolve, this innovation deficit can have perilous consequences on patients. A number of new ince...

Authors: Christine Årdal, Enrico Baraldi, Ursula Theuretzbacher, Kevin Outterson, Jens Plahte, Francesco Ciabuschi and John-Arne Røttingen

A survey of knowledge, attitude, and practices of private retail pharmacies staff in tuberculosis care: study from Dera Ismail Khan City, Pakistan

In order to engage pharmacies in tuberculosis (TB) care, a survey was conducted in the Dera Ismail (DI) Khan City of the Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa province, Pakistan. The objectives were to; 1) characterize the ret...

Authors: Tehmina Mustafa, Yasir Shahzad and Ayyaz Kiani

A bibliometric analysis of the global research on biosimilars

Biosimilars could be a promising option to help decrease healthcare costs and expand access to treatment. There is no previous evidence of a global bibliometric analysis on biosimilars. Therefore, we aimed to ...

Authors: Akram Hernández-Vásquez, Christoper A. Alarcon-Ruiz, Guido Bendezu-Quispe, Daniel Comandé and Diego Rosselli

Pharmaceutical company spending on research and development and promotion in Canada, 2013-2016: a cohort analysis

Competing claims are made about the amount of money that pharmaceutical companies spend on research and development (R&D) versus promotion. This study investigates this question in the Canadian context.

Authors: Joel Lexchin

A real world example of coverage with evidence development in Australia - ipilimumab for the treatment of metastatic melanoma

Australian Government subsidisation of ipilimumab for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma was conditional on the sponsor entering a ‘managed entry scheme’ to assess the 2-year overall survival r...

Authors: Hansoo Kim, Samantha Comey, Karl Hausler and Greg Cook

Health care for all: effective, community supported, healthcare with innovative use of telemedicine technology

Almost half of the world’s total population reside in rural and remote areas and a large number of these people remain deprived of most basic facilities like healthcare and education. It is deemed impossible f...

Authors: Tariq Kazim Shah, Tasneem Tariq, Roger Phillips, Steve Davison, Adam Hoare, Syed Shahzad Hasan and Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar

Barriers and facilitators to hospital pharmacists’ engagement in medication safety activities: a qualitative study using the theoretical domains framework

Hospital pharmacists play a central role in medication safety activities. However, in Ethiopia, this role has been launched recently and little is known regarding the current status of this extended service. U...

Authors: Alemayehu B. Mekonnen, Andrew J. McLachlan, Jo-anne E. Brien, Desalew Mekonnen and Zenahebezu Abay

Analysis of changes in trends in the consumption rates of benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs

To analyse trends in the rates of consumption of benzodiazepine (BZD) anxiolytics, BZD hypnotics and non-BZD hypnotics and the association with contextual factors.

Authors: Miguel Angel Fernández García, Antonio Olry de Labry Lima, Ingrid Ferrer Lopez and Clara Bermúdez-Tamayo

Exploring the extended role of the community pharmacist in improving blood pressure control among hypertensive patients in a developing setting

In most developing countries including Ghana, there is scant literature on the involvement of the community pharmacist in the care of patients with chronic conditions such as hypertension and blood pressure co...

Authors: Afia Frimpomaa Asare Marfo and Frances Thelma Owusu-Daaku

Evaluation of the National Return of unwanted medicines (RUM) program in Australia: a study protocol

The National Return of Unwanted Medicines (NatRUM) program in Australia is one of the few nationally coordinated, free-to-consumer schemes to dispose of unwanted medicines globally. This scheme has been in ope...

Authors: Amanda J. Wheeler, Jean Spinks, Emilie Bettington and Fiona Kelly

To what extent do prescribing practices for hypertension in the private sector in Zimbabwe follow the national treatment guidelines? An analysis of insurance medical claims

Hypertension is the most prevalent cardiovascular disease in Zimbabwe. The prevalence of Hypertension in the country is above 30% regardless of the cut off used. Currently, majority of patients in Zimbabwe see...

Authors: Victor Basopo and Paschal N. Mujasi

Evaluating treatment outcomes and durations among cases of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis in Yemen: a prospective follow-up study

Evaluating outcomes after tuberculosis (TB) treatment can help identify the primary reasons for treatment success or failure. However, Yemen has a treatment success rate that remains below the World Health Org...

Authors: Ammar Ali Saleh Jaber, Amer Hayat Khan and Syed Azhar Syed Sulaiman

Availability, prices and affordability of UN Commission’s lifesaving medicines for reproductive and maternal health in Uganda

Uganda was one of seven countries in which the United Nations Commission on Life Saving Commodities (UNCoLSC) initiative was implemented starting from 2013. A nationwide survey was conducted in 2015 to determi...

Authors: Denis Kibira, Freddy Eric Kitutu, Gemma Buckland Merrett and Aukje K. Mantel-Teeuwisse

Expanding HIV/AIDS care service sites: a cross sectional survey of community pharmacists’ views in South-East, Nigeria

Community pharmacists are very accessible to most patients yet; they have been underutilized in the aspect of providing HIV care and services. The World Health Organisation recently recommended expanding commu...

Authors: Nnenna Ajagu, Maureen Ugonwa Anetoh and Sunday Odunke Nduka

Competency in supportive supervision: a study of public sector medicines management supervisors in Uganda

Supportive supervision has been found to be more effective than corrective fault-oriented inspections. Uganda’s Ministry of Health in 2012 implemented a comprehensive strategy (SPARS) to build medicines manage...

Authors: Rachael Henry, Lynda Nantongo, Anita Katharina Wagner, Martha Embrey and Birna Trap

Evaluating the impact of Brexit on the pharmaceutical industry

The UK Pharmaceutical Industry is arguably one of the most important industries to consider in the negotiations following the Brexit vote. Providing tens of thousands of jobs and billions in tax revenue and re...

Authors: Fawz Kazzazi, Cleo Pollard, Paul Tern, Alejandro Ayuso-Garcia, Jack Gillespie and Inesa Thomsen

Branded prescription drug spending: a framework to evaluate policy options

High drug spending is a concern for policy makers due to limits on access for patients. Numerous policies have been proposed to address high drug spending. The existence of multifarious proposals makes it diff...

Authors: Jeromie Ballreich, G. Caleb Alexander, Mariana Socal, Taruja Karmarkar and Gerard Anderson

Does access to credit services influence availability of essential child medicines and licensing status among private medicine retail outlets in Uganda?

Despite making great progress in reducing under five mortality in the last three decades. Uganda still ranks high among countries with the highest under five mortality rates. More than a third (36%) of these d...

Authors: Lorraine Nabbanja Kabunga and Paschal Mujasi

Controlled Substance Agreements for Opioids in a Primary Care Practice

Opioids are widely prescribed for chronic non cancer pain (CNCP). Controlled substance agreements (CSAs) are intended to increase adherence and mitigate risk with opioid prescribing. We evaluated the demograp...

Authors: Lindsey M. Philpot, Priya Ramar, Muhamad Y. Elrashidi, Raphael Mwangi, Frederick North and Jon O. Ebbert

Hypnotics use in children 0–18 months: moderate agreement between mother-reported survey data and prescription registry data

Different methods in pharmacoepidemiology can be used to study hypnotic use in children. But neither questionnaire-based data nor prescription records can be considered a “gold standard”. This study aimed to i...

Authors: Ingvild Holdø, Jørgen G. Bramness, Marte Handal, Leila Torgersen, Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud, Eivind Ystrøm, Hedvig Nordeng and Svetlana Skurtveit

Antimicrobial resistance in India

Authors: Isha Patel, Rabia Hussain, Anam Khan, Akram Ahmad, Muhammad Umair Khan and Mohamed Azmi Ahmed Hassalai

Evaluation of a guided continuous quality improvement program in community pharmacies

The importance of creating and sustaining a strong culture of patient safety has been recognized as a critical component of safe medication use. This study aims to assess changes in attitudes toward patient sa...

Authors: Chanadda Chinthammit, Michael T. Rupp, Edward P. Armstrong, Tara Modisett, Rebecca P. Snead and Terri L. Warholak

Evaluating insulin information provided on discharge summaries in a secondary care hospital in the United Kingdom

Prescribing errors at the time of hospital discharge are common and could potentially lead to avoidable patient harm, especially when they involve insulin, a high-risk medicine widely used for the treatment of...

Authors: Amie Bain, Lois Nettleship, Sallianne Kavanagh and Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar

Antibiotic use during pregnancy: a retrospective study of prescription patterns and birth outcomes at an antenatal clinic in rural Ghana

Babies are increasingly being exposed to antibiotics intrapartum in the bid to reduce neonatal and maternal deaths. Intrapartum antibiotic exposure, including even those considered safe in pregnancy, have been...

Authors: Kwesi Boadu Mensah, Kwame Opoku-Agyeman and Charles Ansah

Drug utilization patterns among elderly hospitalized patients on poly-pharmacy in Punjab, Pakistan

Reports from drug utilization reviews are important tools employed in the assessment of healthcare practices. The objective of this study was to evaluate drug utilization patterns among elderly hospitalized pa...

Authors: Muhammad Rehan Sarwar, Muhammad Atif, Shane Scahill, Anum Saqib, Muhammad Qamar-uz-Zaman and Zaheer Babar

Taking the lead from our colleagues in medical education: the use of images of the in-vivo setting in teaching concepts of pharmaceutical science

Despite pharmaceutical sciences being a core component of pharmacy curricula, few published studies have focussed on innovative methodologies to teach the content. This commentary identifies imaging techniques...

Authors: Louise E. Curley, Julia Kennedy, Jordan Hinton, Ali Mirjalili and Darren Svirskis

The effectiveness of naltrexone combined with current smoking cessation medication to attenuate post smoking cessation weight gain: a literature review

Smoking is the number one cause of preventable morbidity and mortality globally and although many countries have invested heavily in smoking cessation programs, 21% of the global population still smoke. Post c...

Authors: Raewyn Rees and Ali Seyfoddin