Background: Countries have introduced a variety of measures to prevent and treat COVID-19 with medicines and personal protective equipment (PPE), with some countries adopting preventative strategies earlier than others. However, there has been considerable controversy surrounding some treatments. This includes hydroxychloroquine where the initial hype and misinformation lead to shortages, price rises and suicides. Price rises and shortages have also been seen for PPE. Such activities can have catastrophic effects on patients where there are high co-payment levels and issues of affordability. Consequently, there is a need to investigate this further.Objective: Assess changes in the availability, utilization and prices of relevant medicines and PPE during the pandemic among a range of Asian countries.Our approach: Narrative literature review combined with interviews among community pharmacists to assess changes in consumption, prices and shortages of medicines and PPE from the beginning of March 2020 until end of May 2020. In addition, suggestions on ways to reduce misinformation.Results: 308 pharmacists took part from five Asian countries. There was an appreciable increase in the utilization of antimicrobials in Pakistan (in over 88% of pharmacies), with lower increases or no change in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and Vietnam. Encouragingly, there was increased use of vitamins/immune boosters and PPE across the countries, as well as limited price rises for antimicrobials in India, Malaysia and Vietnam, although greater price rises seen for analgesics and vitamin C/immune boosters. Appreciable price increases were also seen for PPE across some countries.Conclusion: Encouraging to see increases in utilization of vitamins/immune boosters and PPE. However, increases in the utilization and prices of antimicrobials is a concern that needs addressing alongside misinformation and any unintended consequences from the pandemic. Community pharmacists can play a key role in providing evidence-based advice, helping to moderate prices, as well as helping address some of the unintended consequences of the pandemic.

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Pharmacology is most rapidly expanding science in medical discipline which leads to the development of many important drugs to treat many medical conditions that was previously untreatable. This paper focuses on the necessity of integration of pharmacology in the medical curriculum in all clinical phases and ethical aspects of medicine in terms of irrational prescribing. Irrational prescribing of drugs is a major global health problem in medical practice. Currently Pharmacology is taught at phase-II, a 2 year period in a 5 years undergraduate medical Programme in Bangladesh under the name ‘Pharmacology and Therapeutics’. Indiscriminate use of clinically inappropriate and ineffective medicines are a serious problem. Medicines in Bangladesh are inappropriately prescribed, again all kinds of drugs including controlled products are dispensed and sold out frequently without prescription. Henceforth there are regular violation of medical ethics and professionalism. As only pharmacology and therapeutics deals with the correct selection of drugs, the subject should be continued to teach up to phase-III. In addition, therapeutic discussion should be incorporated with proper logbook during internship in order to make safe and efficient prescribers. Supreme priority should be given to legal and ethical aspects of medicine. Medical professionals must uphold social order by ensuring ethical practices of medicine and appropriate role modelling especially by the faculty

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