Background Pharmacists in high-income countries routinely provide efficient pharmacy or pharmaceutical care services that are known to improve clinical, economic, and humanistic outcomes (ECHO) of patients. However, pharmacy services in low- and middle-income countries, mainly South Asia, are still evolving and limited to providing traditional pharmacy services such as dispensing prescription medicines. This systematic review aims to assess and evaluate the impact of pharmacists’ services on the ECHO of patients in South Asian countries. Methods We searched PubMed/Medline, Scopus, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library for relevant articles published from inception to 20th September 2021. Original studies (only randomised controlled trials) conducted in South Asian countries (published only in the English language) and investigating the economic, clinical (therapeutic and medication safety), and humanistic impact (health-related quality of life) of pharmacists’ services, from both hospital and community settings, were included. Results The electronic search yielded 430 studies, of which 20 relevant ones were included in this review. Most studies were conducted in India (9/20), followed by Pakistan (6/20), Nepal (4/20) and Sri Lanka (1/20). One study showed a low risk of bias (RoB), 12 studies showed some concern, and seven studies showed a high RoB. Follow-up duration ranged from 2 to 36 months. Therapeutic outcomes such as HbA1c value and blood pressure (systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure) studied in fourteen studies were found to be reduced. Seventeen studies reported humanistic outcomes such as medication adherence, knowledge and health-related quality of life, which were found to be improved. One study reported safety and economic outcomes each. Most interventions delivered by the pharmacists were related to education and counselling of patients including disease monitoring, treatment optimisation, medication adherence, diet, nutrition, and lifestyle. Conclusion This systematic review suggests that pharmacists have essential roles in improving patients’ ECHO in South Asian countries via patient education and counselling; however, further rigorous studies with appropriate study design with proper randomisation of intervention and control groups are anticipated.

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is a common and serious health problem affecting many people each year around the World especially females. Therapy of UTI relies on the predictability of the agents causing UTI and knowledge of their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in two major hospitals of Western Nepal. Tools for data collection were a data collection form. Total 400 patient's file with suspected UTI were reviewed, out of which 173 (43.3 %) of the suspected samples showed presence of potential pathogens causing UTI. UTI was mostly prevalent in females of age group 21-30. Escherichia coli (E. coli) was the predominant (65.1%) bacterial pathogen. Amikacin was found to be most sensitive antimicrobial followed by Nitrofurantoin and Gentamcin. Ampicillin showed the higher percentage of resistant, compared to other antimicrobials. As drug resistance among bacterial pathogens is an evolving process, regular surveillance and monitoring is necessary to provide effective treatment of UTIs.

Purpose. Asthma is a chronic disease which cannot be cured but can be controlled. Although drug therapy is used to relieve and prevent symptoms of asthma and treat exacerbations, still a good asthma control and a better quality of life in many patients is suboptimal due to improper use of inhalation technique. Thus, this interventional study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a pharmacist intervention on asthma control, quality of life and inhaler technique in adult asthmatic patients. Patients and Methods. A total of 72 patients who met the inclusion criteria and agreed to give written consent were enrolled in the study. These patients were randomly divided into two groups i.e., test group (36) and control group (36) by simple block randomization technique. Test group were the interventional groups. Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ), Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) and structured questionnaires were used to sort the information like quality of life, asthma control and demographic details. They were counselled by the pharmacist about the asthma management and proper use of inhalers. Out of 72 patients, only forty six patients came for follow up after one month. Data were entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20. Results. A significant change was observed in the mean score of quality of life (p=0.001) in test group as well as control group, however change in the mean score of asthma control in the test group (p=0.001) was more significant as compared to the control group (p=0.099). Inhalation technique was found to be improved significantly after intervention among patients using the metered dose inhaler and dry powder inhaler. Majority of the patients were prescribed with Methylxanthines (24.5%) followed by combined Beta 2 agonists and Inhaled Corticosteroids (21.7%). Conclusion. Pharmacist provided intervention improves the quality of life, asthma control and inhalation technique among asthmatic patients.

BackgroundHealth camp is generally organized to provide health care services to the people deprived of health care facilities. The aim of this project was to assess the proportions of disease among attendees of health camp and study the drug prescribing pattern in a free health camp.MethodsA case study was performed from 1 day health camp to determine the proportions of disease and drug prescribing pattern. Data collection was performed using log book maintained in the health camp and patient’s demographic details, disease diagnosed and drug prescribed was obtained from same log book.ResultsA total of 317 patients were included in the study. The majority of the patients were in the range of 41–50 years. On the basis of study on ethnicity, Brahmins and Chettris, were found to be predominant ethnic groups with gastrointestinal disorders as the major disease. The total number of medications prescribed was 510, with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and antipeptic ulcer drugs being commonly prescribed. The average number of drugs per prescription and the percentage of antibiotics prescribed were 1.6 and 21.4 %, respectively. It was observed that 96.8 % of prescription was by generic names. Likewise, 100 % of prescription included drugs from essential drug list.ConclusionMajority of the patients were of working age group. Headache and fever were found to be the most prevalent cases and NSAIDs were the most commonly prescribed medications. The drug prescribing pattern of the free health camp complied with WHO recommended prescribing indicators.

Rice is the staple food for the significant population of Asia. Due to projected population growth in this region, the demand for this food is also predicted to be increased exponentially soon. Nitrogen (N) plays a dominant role in increasing rice yield as it is the most critical yield-limiting nutrient of rice. Chemical N fertilizers which are a major source in supplying N nutrients to rice, have adverse effects on overall soil and environmental health in the long term. The application of free-floating aquatic fern Azolla as a biofertilizer can be an alternative to improve rice yield without degrading the environment. It provides a natural source of many nutrients, especially N, improves the availability of other nutrients, plays a critical role in weed suppression, enhances soil organic matter, and improves efficiency of the inorganic fertilizers while maintaining the suitable soil pH condition for rice growth, which overall contribute to rice yield increment. Therefore, Azolla application has tremendous potential to improve soil health and boost yield sustainability.