Background Despite recent strides made towards reducing the emergence of artemisinin resistance, inappropriate dispensing practices for anti-malarials in both private and public sectors affect treatment outcomes negatively. In Ghana, private retail pharmacies are the most accessible health facilities for managing diseases of common occurrence. However, there is growing concern about the number of patients harmed by dispensing errors in the management of malaria in retail pharmacies. Although considerable work has been done in this area, several questions regarding dispensing practices remain unanswered. This study, therefore, sought to investigate the predictors of appropriate dispensing practices for anti-malarials in community pharmacies in the La Nkwantanang-Madina municipality of Greater Accra, Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in sixty-one randomly selected community pharmacies in the La Nkwantanang-Madina. Data from 230 clients and 106 dispensers were analysed. It was checked for internal consistency and completeness then entered and analysed using STATA I/C version 14.0. Frequencies, Chi square tests, and logistic regression analyses were conducted, accounting for clustering. Results and discussion Of the 106 dispensers interviewed, 71.4% were medicine counter assistants. The mean age of dispensers was 30.4 years (SD 8.8). Over 88.0% of clients were advised to complete the full course of their anti-malarials. However, the 8-h loading dose principle for artemether-lumefantrine was not explained to 88.3% of the clients. More than half of the clients (52.2%) were given appropriate dispensing information on anti-malarial use. Most clients (66.1%), were dispensed anti-malarials without malaria tests. Dispensers with more than a 10-years experience were less likely to dispense artemisinin-based combinations appropriately relative to dispensers with less than 2 years experience (AOR = 0.04, 95% CI 0.002–0.802 p-value = 0.036) while pharmacy interns were about 19 times more likely (AOR = 18.5, 95% CI 1.40–245.6 p-value = 0.03) to dispense artemisinin-based combinations appropriately compared to pharmacists. Conclusion Dispensing practices for anti-malarials is unsatisfactory. There is a need to enforce existing legislation with educational programmes directed towards dispensers especially those with more than 10 years experience. Specific adherence to the World Health Organization Test, Treat and Track initiative should be encouraged to ensure effective use of anti-malarials.

Oxidative stress induced death and dysregulation of trabecular meshwork (TM) cells contribute to the increased intraocular pressure (IOP) in primary open angle (POAG) glaucoma patients. POAG is one of the major causes of irreversible vision loss worldwide. Nitric oxide (NO), a small gas molecule, has demonstrated IOP lowering activity in glaucoma by increasing aqueous humor outflow and relaxing TM. Glaucomatous pathology is associated with decreased antioxidant enzyme levels in ocular tissues causing increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production that reduce the bioavailability of NO. Here, we designed, synthesized, and conducted in vitro studies of novel second-generation sulfur containing hybrid NO donor-antioxidants SA-9 and its active metabolite SA-10 to scavenge broad-spectrum ROS as well as provide efficient protection from t-butyl hydrogen peroxide (TBHP) induced oxidative stress while maintaining NO bioavailability in TM cells. To allow a better drug delivery, a slow release nanosuspension SA-9 nanoparticles (SA-9 NPs) was prepared, characterized, and tested in dexamethasone induced ocular hypertensive (OHT) mice model for IOP lowering activity. A single topical eye drop of SA-9 NPs significantly lowered IOP (61%) at 3 h post-dose, with the effect lasting up to 72 h. This class of molecule has high potential to be useful for treatment of glaucoma.

Background Anaemia and diarrhoea are known independent causes of under-five morbidity and mortality. This study sought to investigate predictors of comorbid patterns of anaemia and diarrhoea using the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). Methods The study employed analysis of secondary data from the 2014 GDHS. We performed a multivariate complex sample logistic regression and spatial analysis. Results The weighted prevalence of comorbid anaemia and diarrhoea was 9.28% with the highest burden (16.45%) found in the Upper West region. Independent predictors (risk factors) of comorbid patterns of anaemia and diarrhoea were children aged 6–23 mo (OR=2.17, 95% CI 1.42 to 3.33), male gender (OR=1.50, 95% C1 1.04 to 2.16), history of fever (OR=4.37, 95% CI 2.94 to 6.50) and living in a household with two children aged <5 y (OR=1.80, 95% CI 1.14 to 2.84). Protective factors were having a father with secondary or higher education (OR=0.57, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.97), living in a household with ≥6 members (OR=0.46, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.75) and living in a richer household (OR=0.38, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.89). Surface maps revealed inter-regional and subregional variations. Conclusion The study shows that the independent predictors of comorbid patterns of anaemia and diarrhoea among children aged <5 y in Ghana are age, gender, history of fever, the number of children aged <5 y in the household, parental education, household size and household wealth. The study identified zones to be targeted for cost-effective policy interventions.

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