Geospatial analysis of distribution of community pharmacies and other health care facilities providing minor ailments services in Malaysia

Abstract

Background Minor ailments are defined as common, self-limiting, or uncomplicated conditions that may be diagnosed and managed without a medical intervention. Previous studies reported that pharmacists were able to help patients self-manage minor ailments that led to a reduction of health care burden in other facilities. Nevertheless, public access to community pharmacy and other health care facilities offering services for minor ailments has not yet been explored in Malaysia. Hence, this study aims to determine population access to the above-mentioned services. Method According to the reported practice address in 2018, the spatial distribution of health care facilities was mapped and explored using the GIS mapping techniques. The density of health care facilities was analyzed using thematic maps with hot spot analysis. Population to facility ratio was calculated using the projection of the population growth based on 2010 census data, which was the latest available in the year of analysis. Results The study included geographical mapping of 7051 general practitioner clinics (GPC), 3084 community pharmacies (CP), 139 public general hospitals (GHs) and 990 public primary health clinics (PHC). The health care facilities were found to be highly dense in urban areas than in the rural ones. There were six districts that had no CP, 2 had no GPC, and 11 did not have both. The overall ratio of GPC, CP, GH, and PHC to the population was 1:4228, 1:10,200, 1:223,619 and 1:31,397, respectively. Should the coverage for minor ailment services in public health care clinics be extended to community pharmacies, the ratio of facilities to population for each district would be better with 1:4000–8000. Conclusions The distribution of health care facilities for minor ailment management in Malaysia is relatively good. However, if the scheme for minor ailments were available to community pharmacies, then the patients’ access to minor ailments services would be further improved.

Comparison of health-seeking behaviour of Malaysian adults in urban and rural areas pertaining to oral health issues: findings from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019

“…For instance, community pharmacists can be used to raise knowledge about medication safety and oral health among urban residents. Given that Malaysians with lower income in the rural areas are more inclined to selfmedicate, pharmacists in public hospitals have a stronger role in educating the populace there about medication safety and oral health where community pharmacies are fewer [72] and the use of public health facilities are more prevalent [27]. Oral health personnel may collaborate with pharmacists in the hospital to sensitize them about study ndings which show preponderance for self-medication and its associated factors among Malaysians.…”

The Health-Seeking Behavior among Malaysian Adults in Urban and Rural Areas Who Reported Sickness: Findings from the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2019

“…The influence of education level on self-medication practice is consistent with a study in Saudi Arabia [ 79 ]. In Malaysia, community pharmacies that are strategically and conveniently located in shopping malls and supermarkets [ 33 ] led to better access to OTC medications, especially among the urban population where amenities and infrastructure are more readily available. While OTC medications have been shown to be safe and appropriate for use without the supervision of a health care provider, unwanted effects may result if used irresponsibly [ 80 ].…”

“…As of 2020, the Malaysian public healthcare system has a distribution of 3171 clinics and 154 hospitals throughout the country, which also provide mobile clinic services to remote areas. There were 7988 registered clinics and a total of 250 licensed hospitals, maternity homes, nursing homes, and hospices in the private healthcare facilities in Malaysia, which are mostly concentrated in the urban areas [ 18 , 32 , 33 ]. The allocation of healthcare services and resources within the public sector was uneven, favoring urban clinics heavily [ 24 ].…”

A comparison between antibiotic utilisation in public and private community healthcare in Malaysia

“…Detailed description of the data source is described elsewhere [ 15 ]. The public primary care is comprised of over 1000 public health clinics nationwide whereas the private sector includes nearly 8000 private clinics (general practitioners) that provide outpatient care and approximately 3000 retail community pharmacies [ 16 , 17 ]. Data on population size was obtained from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, based on the yearly population estimates of Malaysia [ 18 ].…”