Pharmacovigilance plays an important role in ensuring that patients are receiving safe drugs. In Saudi Arabia, Saudi Food and Drug Authority, health institutions, marketing authorization holders and healthcare professional are involved in pharmacovigilance activities regardless of the level of the involvement. Although pharmacovigilance is well established in developed nations and it is considered a new concept in Saudi Arabia. It is a collective effort from various stakeholders to make pharmacovigilance successful toward promoting safe and effective use of medicines among the population. However, the practice of pharmacovigilance still needs more attention especially from marketing authorization holders and healthcare professionals. The aim of this review was to describe the current situation of pharmacovigilance in Saudi Arabia and the activities that have been conducted by the stakeholders.

Objective: The study was to investigate antibiotic prescription patterns at outpatient departments

Background Patients in Yemen commonly visit community pharmacies to obtain consultation or treatment for common ailments. Community pharmacists have an opportunity to optimize medication use and improve patient outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the attitudes and practices of community pharmacists regarding their participation in public health activities and barriers to their participation in these activities. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out among community pharmacists working in pharmacies located in urban areas of the Aden governorate of Yemen from March to June 2017 using a self-administered questionnaire. We selected pharmacies from a line list using proportional sampling according to the number of pharmacies in the urban areas of each district. The questionnaire contained four sections: demographic characteristics, attitudes, practices, and barriers encountered. Data were analyzed descriptively, and the Chi-square test was used for analyzing the association of variables (alpha = 0.05). Results The questionnaire was distributed to 200 community pharmacists working in community pharmacies. Of the 200 respondents, 62% ( n = 124) were male. Overall, the mean age (sd) was 30.0 years (8.6) with the number of years of work experience between 2 and 9.9 years ( n = 158, 79%). On average, 62.3% of the pharmacists had a positive attitude toward participation in public health activities. Providing education to stop tobacco chewing, smoking, alcohol drinking and improve oral hygiene was an important activity of the community pharmacists. Blood pressure measurements (86%, n = 172) and glucose tests (45%, n = 90) were commonly conducted for clients. Lack of time (71%, n = 142) and lack of teamwork (70%, n = 140) were mentioned as common barriers to participation in public health activities. Conclusions Community pharmacists had a positive attitude toward public health activities. Health education and routine health tests were important practices of the community pharmacists. Barriers need to be overcome to enable more active participation by community pharmacists in public health activities by consulting with all stakeholders, assessing the situation, considering alternatives and taking action. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-019-4133-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists (CPs) in Penang, Malaysia, towards consumer reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs). Methodology:A cross-sectional mail survey was adopted for the performance of the study. Survey questionnaires were sent to 192 CPs and 400 GPs in the state of Penang, Malaysia. Reminders were sent to all the non-respondents after 3 weeks of the initial mailing. Data which were collected from the questionnaires were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 15. The Chi-square test was used to determine as to whether there was any significant difference between expected and observed frequencies at the alpha level of 0.05. Results:Only 104 respondents (47 CPs and 57 GPs) returned the survey, with a response rate of 18.0%-a figure which could be considered to be low. This study indicated that GPs and CPs were aware about the importance and benefits of consumer reporting. A majority of them (88.0%) thought that consumer reporting would add more benefits to the existing pharmacovigilance program. Similarly, 97% of the respondents agreed that reporting of ADRs was necessary and 87.0% respondents had seen ADRs among their patients. However, 57 of them (6.0%), had not been aware

Background. There is a rapid deterioration in the effectiveness of antibiotics due to the global prevalence of bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR can cause an increase in mortality and morbidity due to treatment failures and a lack of effective therapy. Objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the AMR pattern of different bacterial isolates at hospitals and laboratories. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional study from March 2019 to June 2019 was conducted at different governmental and private hospitals and laboratories in Aden, Yemen. Age, sex, specimen type, bacterial isolates, and antibiotic susceptibility pattern were collected using a data extraction sheet. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Result. Data were recorded for 412 patients from whom 20 clinical specimens were collected and analyzed. The most common bacteria isolated were Staphylococcus spp. (n=172, 41.74%), E. coli (n=164, 39.80%), Pseudomonas spp. (n=37, 8.98%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=18, 4.36%); other bacteria were less common. The overall bacterial resistance was highest against the combination of sulfamethoxazole with trimethoprim (73.12%), followed by amoxicillin and clavulanate (65.19%). The cephalosporin antibiotics also showed high resistance rates. The study also showed moderate bacterial resistance to gentamycin (32.65%), azithromycin (29.92%), cefoxitin (62.65%), and ciprofloxacin (25.60%). Ertapenem (16.67%) and levofloxacin (15.56%) had the lowest resistance rates. Conclusion. There was a high percentage of bacteria resistant to several antibiotics. Antibiotic susceptibility testing is a prerequisite guide for the selection of appropriate antibiotic therapy for bacterial infections.

Reporting adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is considered the essence of pharmacovigilance practice.Physician and nurse are among health care providers who extensively take part in reporting.However, underreporting is a malpractice worldwide. This study aimed to determine physicians and nurses' knowledge and perception toward pharmacovigilance in general, and consumer's related pharmacovigilance. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Gamhouria Teaching Hospital at Aden, Yemen. The study conducted from September to October 2014.Target populations were physicians and nurses. A 40-item self administered questionnaire was administered among participants. Descriptive and Chi square analysis were used to analyse to express the results. Results: 130 health care professionals were participating in the study with a mean age of 42.9 (SD7.93) years and a mean experience period of 20.3 (SD 9.73). Females comprised 63.1% of the participants and majority of them are nurses (68.5%). Although, Physicians and nurses showed varied statistically significant differences in knowledge toward pharmacovigilance. However, nurses showed a positive attitude and perception. Meanwhile, regarding consumer pharmacovigilance, again nurses showed positive attitude compared to physicians but physicians were more positive with the consumer reporting. Both physicians and nurses were highly scored for the importance of pharmacovigilance in Yemen as well as to be part of health education curriculum. Conclusion: A relatively good level of pharmacovigilance knowledge has been encountered among physicians and nurses. Nurses had had optimistic attitude and higher perception toward pharmacovigilance compared to physicians who more valued consumer reporting.

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Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) represent a serious health problem. Despite all the benefits of modern medicines, evidence continues to mount that ADRs to them are common,