The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is putting a huge strain on healthcare systems and is a turning point for the beginning of a global health crisis of an unprecedented condition. As such, the provision of quality pharmacy services particularly, dispensing practice with pre-existing challenges in resource-limited settings is a grave concern in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, in this commentary we described the pattern of dispensing practice in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic by evaluating the current condition of drug dispensing practice in drug retail outlets of Jimma Town.

Background An evaluation of patient satisfaction with service provided in the health care system has been globally recognized as the measure of health care service quality. However, there is a lack of research findings that indicate patient satisfaction with newly implemented patient-oriented pharmaceutical care (PC) service provided by clinical pharmacists in Ethiopia. Therefore, the current study is aimed to determine the level of patient satisfaction and associated factors with PC service provided by clinical pharmacists in the Southwestern Ethiopia. Methodology A facility-based cross-sectional study design was employed among patients admitted to Medical wards in Jimma University Medical Center (JUMC) (n=219) from May to June 2021. The pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire containing structured questions on a 5-point Likert scale was appropriately completed and returned for statistical analysis. For the analysis of data, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used. The associations between status of patient satisfaction and predictors were determined at 5% (p<0.05) level of significance by employing multivariate logistic regression. Results The current study revealed that more than half (56%) of the respondents were satisfied with clinical pharmacy service. From 30% of drug therapy problems (DTPs) reported, non-adherence was the most prevalent (11.4%), while the dose being too low and adverse effects (0.9%) were the least reported. Moreover, the assignment particular clinical pharmacist (AOR: 2.091, 95% CI: 1.028, 4.255), previous admission (AOR: 0.459, 95% CI: 0.244, 0.86), number of medications taken per day (AOR: 1.929, 95% CI: 1.996, 3.739) and length of hospital stay (AOR: 2.236, 95% CI: 1.124, 4.446) were significantly associated with patient satisfaction. Conclusion The present study revealed that patient satisfaction towards PC was low. Lack of specific clinical pharmacist assignment, previous history of admission, number of medications taken per day and length of hospital stay are revealed as the major factors affecting the level of satisfaction. In addition, current findings implicate that clinical pharmacist collaboration with a multidisciplinary team is essential to increase patient satisfaction.

Background Ethiopia is one of the world’s oldest countries, with a fascinating history of herbal medicine. However, there is a lack of evidence for the regulatory framework for herbal medicines and its implementation. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the policy governing herbal medicines regulation and its implementation in Ethiopia. Methods and Materials An archival review, a semi-structured interview with key informants, a cross-sectional study involving traditional healers, and an institution-based cross-sectional survey were conducted from June 15, 2020 to December 25, 2020. The qualitative data was transcribed using Microsoft Word 10, whereas the quantitative data was recorded and analyzed using SPSS 20 computer statistical software. The study’s findings are summarized using descriptive statistics. In addition, multiple logistic regressions were performed to identify factors affecting regulation of herbal medicine (HM) in Ethiopia. Variables with p<0.05 were considered potential predictors. Results According to all key informants, Ethiopia has yet to adopt distinct policies and laws on herbal medicine that may provide an independent regulatory framework. Similarly, the majority of respondents in an institution-based survey indicated that there were no defined policies (n=52, 57.3%), laws (n=53, 59.6%), or registration systems (n=67, 75.3%) for herbal medicine. However, traditional healers claimed that they are licensed by either the Woreda Health Bureau (n=21, 95.5%) or the Regional Health Bureau (n=1, 4.5%) to legally practise traditional herbal medicine. Besides, no traditional healer is licensed by Ethiopian Food and Drug Administration (EFDA) or Ministry of Health. Conclusion Ethiopia has yet to adopt distinctive herbal medicine policies and laws to provide an independent herbal regulatory system. Despite the fact that the EFDA has a mandate for herbal medicine regulation, traditional healers are licensed by the woreda and regional health bureaus, thus more investigation is needed.

Background:Recently, the World Health Organization has strongly evidenced the importance of herbal medicine safety monitoring within the existing pharmacovigilance system through active involvement of health professionals. However, there is a widespread lack of awareness among health professionals about the safety of herbal medicines. Thus, this study assessed the current awareness of health professionals on the safety of herbal medicine in the South West of Ethiopia. Methodology: The study employed a cross-sectional study design involving multistage sampling among health professionals (n=286) working in the medical center of Jimma University, January to February, 2021. The pre-tested self-administered questionnaire containing structured questions on a five-point Likert scale was appropriately filled and returned for statistical analysis. For the analysis of data, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used. The associations between status of awareness and predictors were determined at 5% (p<0.05) level of significance by employing multivariate logistic regression. Results:The study revealed around 51.8% of respondents had a good awareness regarding herbal medicine safety. Working experience of 6-10 years (AOR: 0.215, 95% CI: 0.093, 0.499), having training (AOR: 0.357, 95% CI: 0.166, 0.770), and practice of safety monitoring (AOR: 0.169, 95% CI: 0.077, 0.370) were significantly associated with awareness of safety of herbal medicine. Conclusion:This study revealed that awareness of health professionals regarding safety of herbal medicine is not satisfactory. The years of experience, training, and practice of safety monitoring of herbal medicine are the major factors affecting status awareness. Therefore, the National Regulatory Authority must urgently facilitate integrated and consistent training for all health professionals.

Background: While the research findings confirm the existence of private drug retail outlets that do not comply with regulatory standards in many low-income countries, there are a lack of reports that evaluate the quality of medicines obtained from these firms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the regulatory compliance of the retails and associated quality of amoxicillin in Southwestern Ethiopia. Methodology: Forty-two drug retail outlets in Jimma town were evaluated using an inspection checklist developed by the Ethiopian regulatory authority, and dispensers from these retail outlets were interviewed using the pretested structured questionnaire. The drug outlets were coded and categorized into noncompliant and compliant drug retail outlets. The physicochemical quality of amoxicillin capsules obtained from these retail outlets were evaluated following methods described in the US Pharmacopoeia. Results: The present study revealed that about 54.76% drug retail outlets were compliant with the regulatory standard. Factors like income of retail outlet, experience of dispenser, and training regarding good storage practice were associated with status of regulatory compliance (p-value <0.05). The identification, dissolution, and assay results indicated that all amoxicillin samples obtained from both noncompliant and compliant drug retail outlets complied with pharmacopoeial specification limit. Besides, the independent unequal variance t-test revealed that there is no significant difference between mean dissolution and assay of API of the amoxicillin samples obtained these drug retail outlets (p-value >0.05). Conclusion:The regulatory compliance of private drug retail outlets in Jimma town is not satisfactory. Moreover, the laboratory findings revealed that all samples of amoxicillin capsules compiled with pharmacopoeial specifications acceptance for packaging and labeling information, identification, assay, and dissolution. However, despite the fact that assays of the amoxicillin from retail outlets are within the required specification, the assays of amoxicillin obtained from noncompliant retail outlets appears to be slightly degraded, which may potentially demonstrate the impact of noncompliance of the drug retail outlets on the quality of medicines.