Conclusion Even though anemia prevalence was very low among the study participants, adherence to IFAS was still a challenge during pregnancy. Therefore, counseling about IFAS and anemia prevention and promoting the benefits of early ANC visit are recommended to improve adherence to IFAS.

Objective Epilepsy management especially in developing country is challenging. Seizures recurrence can be caused by both drug and non-drug related problems such as inadequate antiepileptic regimens, adverse drug reaction and poor adherence. Patient treatment satisfaction also affects the treatment out comes by improving medication adherence. This study aimed to assess drug therapy problems (DTPs) and treatment satisfaction among ambulatory epileptic patients at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital. Methods A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 291 epileptic patients. Data was collected through patient interview and medical charts review. DTPs were identified based on the standard treatment guidelines and Micromedex® was used as drug interaction checker. Cipolle DTPs classification was used to classify the DTPs and Treatment Satisfaction with Medicine Questionnaire (SATMED-Q) was used to assess treatment satisfaction. Binary logistic regressions were utilized to identify the associated factors. Results Phenobarbital 195 (67%) and phenytoin 97 (33.3%) were the most frequently prescribed antiepileptic medications as monotherapy or combination therapy. Only 54 (18.6%) of the study participants had controlled seizure. DTP was found in 205(70.4%) of the study participants. From 352 DTPs identified, adverse drug reaction 146 (41.5%) was the leading DTPs followed by ineffective drugs 98 (27.8%) drug interaction 45 (12.8%) and inappropriate dose 42(11.9%). Headache, depression and epigastric pain were frequently reported adverse drug reaction. Among the study participants 167 (57.3%) were adherent to their medications. The number of medications taken by the patients had significant association with occurrence of DTPs, whereas source of medication and seizure free periods were found to have significant association with poor adherence. The global patient satisfaction was

Objective: Anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) are the primary therapeutic modalities for epilepsy management. However, one-third of epileptic patients continue to experience seizure even with appropriate AED use. Patients with epilepsy are at increased risk for seizure-related injury and they have higher incidences of home, street and work accidents. There is a paucity of data on AED use pattern and treatment outcomes among patients with epilepsy in the tertiary hospitals of Ethiopia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess AED use pattern, treatment outcome, and prevalence of seizure-related injury among patients with epilepsy in Tikur Anbessa specialized Hospital (TASH), Ethiopia. Patients and Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was carried out on 291 patients with epilepsy attending the neurology clinic of TASH. A semi-structured questionnaire and data abstraction format were used to collect data through patient interview and medical chart review. Binary logistic regression was utilized to identify the associated factors of treatment outcome. Results: About 172 (59%) of the patients were taking a single AED, in which phenobarbital, 195 (67%), and phenytoin, 97 (33.3%), were the most frequently prescribed AEDs as monotherapy and combination therapy. Headache, depressed mood and epigastric pain were frequently reported as adverse drug reactions. Seizure-related injury was reported among 78 (26.8%) patients and head injury 15 (5.2%), desntal injury 15 (5.2%), soft tissue injury 14 (4.8%) and burns 10 (3.4%) were the commonest. About two-thirds (191, 65.6%) of the study participants had uncontrolled seizure. Medication adherence and multiple AEDs were significantly associated with treatment outcome. Conclusion: All the study participants were put on old generation AEDs with phenobarbital being the most frequently used. About two-thirds of the patients had uncontrolled seizure and seizure-related injury is still a serious concern among patients with epilepsy.

The objective of study was to evaluate the knowledge of students on herbal medicines in Pakistan. To evaluate knowledge among the students, a questionnaire based study about herbal medicines was designed. Mean age of responding students was 22 years, some of them had used herbal medicines in past and some were still using. Majority of the students were interested in the information related to herbal medicines. The response of students about herbal medicines was good. But they had a little knowledge about their adverse effects. But some of them had no idea about the interaction between herbal medicines and allopathic medicines. Herbal medicine information should take a part of pharmacy curriculum for undergraduate students. Education program should be started amongst the pharmacists about the safety of herbal medicines in Pakistan.

Background: Suboptimal knowledge and attitude of healthcare professionals about generics reduce utilization of these drugs. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge gap, attitude and practice among pharmacy professionals toward generic medicine in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Method: The study was conducted in Addis Ababa from 10 April to10 July 2018 among 424 pharmacy professionals. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed by using statistical package for social sciences version 24 and multi-variable binary logistic regression was used to identify predictors of the dependent variables. Result: Majority (77.1%) of the participants claimed that they have had knowledge on the concept of generic medicine. Knowledge was significantly associated with participants' educational qualification and work experience. More than half (55%) of them have an attitude that brand medicines are of higher quality compared to generics and 37.6% of them believe generic medicines are less effective than brand medicines. About 80% of the participants claimed that locally manufactured generics are cheaper than imported generics. Affordability to the customer, cost effectiveness of generic medicine and consumer preference/demand were the commonest reasons to dispense generic medicines. Conclusion: Though vast majority of the study participants have had knowledge on the concept of generic medicine, their attitude and practice seem suboptimal that will influence utilization of generic products.