Emergency preparedness and response (EP&amp;R) by pharmacy professionals in India: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and the way forward

Aruru, Meghana; Yerramilli, Aparna; Chandra, Sekar M.; Sharma, Sanjeev

doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.04.028

Cited by 37 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The development was preceded by a revision of current literature on COVID-19, both on clinical features of infection 7,8 and on other surveys conducted on HCWs 2,9 and CPs. 3,4 A team composed by a former CP, three Medical Doctors of whom two Academics, a Statistician and an Infectious Disease Specialist independently revised the questionnaire. The main purpose was to achieve a scientifically accurate questionnaire that could fit an online survey.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 Also, surveys have already been administered to community pharmacists (CPs) in order to assess their awareness on their role in COVID-19 crisis 3 and their preparedness and response to pandemic. 4,5 However, in Italy it is still unknown the impact of the virus outbreak on CPs, given the lack of data disclosed by Italian National Institute of Health statistics on this particular category of HCWs. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Italian community pharmacies and over-the-counter (OTC) drugstores have been considered as a primary service and therefore did not undergo lockdown, 6 thus increasing the risk of developing COVID-19.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Community pharmacists' exposure to COVID-19

Cabas

Bella

Giuffrè

et al. 2021

Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy

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Introduction: Since the beginning of the 2020 Sars-CoV-2 Italian outbreak, healthcare workers have been among the most exposed categories. There is little information about community pharmacists' on occupational exposure, symptoms development, and testing practices in the community pharmacist cohort. Methods: Between April 30th and May 10th, a questionnaire was administered through social media to Italian community pharmacists. From 67000 pharmacists currently working in community pharmacies, 1632 answered the survey. Results: The survey population reflected the general Italian community pharmacists population in terms of age, gender, and number of co-workers. Protective measures were adopted in up to 99.9% of pharmacies. 624 pharmacists (38.2%) developed at least one COVID-19 related symptom in the period between February 28th and May 10th. Also, 102 pharmacists (6.2%) were tested for COVID-19 and 15, the 15% of the tested population and 0.92% of the whole survey population, resulted positive on nasopharyngeal swab. However, while the number of symptomatic pharmacists decreased, a higher number of tests were performed, thus COVID-19 prevalence among community pharmacists could have been underestimated and is probably intermediate between other healthcare workers and the general population (0.31%). Conclusion: Community pharmacists have probably been one of the first categories to experience increased contact risk to SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 prevalence among pharmacists could have been underestimated. In addition, the rates of protection measures adoption might have helped to reduce the spread of COVID-19 among coworkers and the community.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community pharmacists' exposure to COVID-19

Cabas

Bella

Giuffrè

et al. 2021

Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy

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“…CPA has also contributed to the advocacy papers ahead of the (postponed) biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that was set to take place in Kigali in Kigali, Rwanda on [22][23][24][25][26][27] June 2020. These efforts seek to raise the pro le of the profession alongside issues that need to be brought to the attention of policy makers relating to medicines and progressing towards Universal Health Coverage.…”

Section: Covid-19 Webinarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19: Needs assessment of the pharmacy profession and contributions so far across the Commonwealth

Ashiru‐Oredope¹,

Chan²,

Olaoye³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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BackgroundThe declaration of COVID-19 a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on the 11March 2020 marked the beginning of a global health crisis of an unprecedented natureand scale. The approach taken by countries across the world varied widely, however,the delivery of frontline healthcare was consistently recognised as being central to thepandemic response. This study aimed to identify and explore the issues currentlyfacing pharmacy teams across Commonwealth countries during the COVID-19pandemic. The study also evaluates pharmacy professionals’ understanding of keyknowledge areas from the COVID-19 webinar hosted by the CommonwealthPharmacists’ Association ( CPA) on 5 th June 2020.MethodA quantitative survey-based approach was adopted, using a 32-item questionnairedeveloped from the literature on pharmacy and pandemic response. The survey washosted on Survey Monkey and pilot tested. The final survey was disseminated by CPAmember organisations. A 6-item online questionnaire was sent via email to allattendees of CPA's COVID-19 webinar. Descriptive statistics on frequency distributionsand percentages were used to analyse the responses. Data were analysed usingMicrosoft® Excel (2010).ResultsThere were 545 responses from pharmacy professionals across 31/54 commonwealthcountries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific. Majority of therespondents reported being at least somewhat worried (90%) and more than 65% werevery worried or extremely about the impact of COVID-19 on them personally andprofessionally. Nearly two-thirds of respondents stated finding it somewhat difficult orvery difficult to work effectively during the pandemic. Challenges mostly faced bypharmacy professionals working remotely included; general anxiety about the impact ofCOVID-19 on their lives (12%), and difficulties in communicating with their co-workers(12%). Most pharmacy professionals had not previously been actively involved in aglobal health emergency (82%) nor obtained training on global/public healthemergency preparedness (62%). Between 45% to 97% of the COVID-19 webinarattendees provided the correct answers to post-webinar questions, suggesting someimprovement in knowledge.ConclusionOur study confirms pharmacy professional’s concerns about practice during apandemic and provides preliminary data on the challenges and learning needs of theprofession. The CPA has since acted on these findings, providing on-goingopportunities to develop and refine resources for the profession as the pandemicevolves. Pharmacy professionals have also demonstrated improved knowledge on themanagement of COVID-19 and resources available for professionals.

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“…Three articles ( Bahlol and Dewey, 2020 , Meghana et al, 2020 , Zheng et al, 2020 ) addressed pharmacists’ role in COVID-19 prevention, preparedness, and response. However, no articles addressed the recovery phase after the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regular work and exercise were also promoted to the public. Meghana et al (2020) India Cross-sectional Pharmacy Professionals COVID-19 Preparedness, Response The study conducted an online survey of pharmacy professionals (PP) (n=24) regarding COVID-19 emergency preparedness and operations management.Eighty-three percent of respondents reported having a perceived preparedness for COVID-19. Additionally, (83%) of respondents reported having an adequate supply of PPE for the protection of pharmacy staff.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%