Pharmaceutical services in Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic

Stefan, Bruno (2022): Pharmaceutical services in Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic. Published in: Studii si cercetari psiho-sociale , Vol. 3, (25 January 2022): pp. 1-25.

Abstract

Pharmacies played an important role in society during the pandemic, being visited by customers more often than before. Communication with them was more intense, and this allowed the pharmacies to expand into other types of services. The study presents the changes produced on the Romanian pharmacy market from the perspective of the customers. It measured the confidence of pharmacists, the degree of information about the services offered, the attitude towards new services (measuring blood pressure, blood sugar, osteoporosis, etc.) and opinions about vaccination in pharmacies. The results of the research showed that people have a very high degree of confidence in the advice they receive in pharmacies. The pharmacies provide basic services (dispense of medication, information on their use, and tips for improving the health), but less services for health testing, preparation of medicines, and involvement in health care programs. Citizens want to benefit from the new services that pharmacies are offering now (rapid tests for blood pressure, glucose or infections), but they are reluctant to testing spirometry, osteodensitometry, skin cancer and age related degenerative diseases (Alzheimer's) at pharmacies. However, vaccination in pharmacies is the most strongly rejected, especially by women, people with higher education, high incomes, and chronically ill.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: pharmacies; vaccination; survey; Romania.
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I12 - Health Behavior; M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M2 - Business Economics > M21 - Business Economics; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification

References

• ADRFR (2021). Lansarea rezultatelor Studiului Servicii Farmaceutice în România. Realităti și provocări post-pandemice. Available from: https://www.adrfr.ro/2021/06/15/lansarea-rezultatelor-studiului-servicii-farmaceutice-in-romania-realitati-si-provocari-post-pandemice-2/ • Ayati N., Saiyarsarai P., Nikfar S. (2020). Short and long term impacts of COVID-19 on the pharmaceutical sector. DARU Journal of Pharmaceutical Science 28, 799–805. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40199-020-00358-5 • AJMC Perspectives. (2018) The Essential Role of Community Pharmacies in Expanding Access to Vaccines. Perspectives in Vaccines. American Journal of Managed Care; pag. 12-16. Available from: https://www.ajmc.com/view/essential-role-community-pharmacies-expanding-access-vaccines • Ajzen I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211. • Ajzen I. (2002). Constructing a TPB questionnaire: Conceptual and methodological considerations. Available from: https://people.umass.edu/aizen/pdf/tpb.measurement.pdf. • Al-Mohaithef M., Padhi B.K. (2020). Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in Saudi Arabia: A Web-Based National Survey. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare. 13:1657-1663. • American Public Health Association. (2006). The role of the pharmacist in public health. Available from: https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2014/07/07/13/05/the-role-of-the-pharmacist-in-public-health • Bach A.T., Goad J.A. (2015). The role of community pharmacy-based vaccination in the USA: current practice and future directions. Integrated pharmacy research & practice. 4:67-77. doi: 10.2147/IPRP.S63822. • Bartsch S.M., Taitel M.S., DePasse J.V. et al. (2018). Epidemiologic and economic impact of pharmacies as vaccination locations during an influenza epidemic. Vaccine, 36(46):7054–7063 • Batarseh Y.S., Darwish F.W., Shammas E.S. et al. (2021) Perception and attitude of the public on vaccine practices and pharmacists as immunizers in Jordan. Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, 55 • Beal J.L., Kadakia N.N., Reed J.B., Illingworth Plake K.S. (2020). Pharmacists’ impact on older adults’ access to vaccines in the United States. Vaccine, 38(11):2456-2465 • Bryant L., Coster G., Gamble G.D., McCormick R.N. (2009). General practitioners’ and pharmacists’ perceptions of the role of community pharmacists in delivering clinical services. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 5(4), 347–362. doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2009.01.002 • Bryant L., Maney J., Martini N. (2017). Changing perspectives of the role of community pharmacists: 1998 - 2012. Journal of primary health care. 9(1):34-46. doi: 10.1071/HC16032. • Burson R.C., Buttenheim A.M., Armstrong A., Feemster K.A. (2016). Community pharmacies as sites of adult vaccination: A systematic review, Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 12:12, 3146-3159, doi: 10.1080/21645515.2016.1215393) • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). A program guide for public health: partnering with pharmacists in the prevention and control of chronic diseases. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/programs/spha/docs/pharmacist_guide.pdf • Choe J., Crane M., Greene J. et al. (2021). The pandemic and the supply chain. Addressing Gaps in Pharmaceutical Production and Distribution. John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 2021:1-20. Available from: https://www.jhsph.edu/research/affiliated-programs/johns-hopkins-drug-access-and-affordability-initiative/publications/Pandemic_Supply_Chain.pdf • Ciliberti R., Bragazzi N.L., Bonsignore A. (2020). The Implementation of the Professional Role of the Community Pharmacist in the Immunization Practices in Italy to Counteract Vaccine Hesitancy. Pharmacy (Basel). 8(3):155. doi:10.3390/pharmacy8030155 • Corporate Europe Observatory (2020). Power and profit during a pandemic. Why the pharmaceutical industry needs more scrutiny not less. Available from: https://corporateeurope.org/en/2020/09/power-and-profit-during-pandemic • De Figueiredo A., Simas C., Karafilakis E., Paterson P., Larson H.J. (2020). Mapping global trends in vaccine confidence and investigating barriers to vaccine uptake: a large-scale retrospective temporal modelling study. The Lancet, Sept. 396(10255): 898-908. • Della Polla G., Napolitano F., Pelullo C.P. et al. (2020). Investigating knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding vaccinations of community pharmacists in Italy. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics 16(10): 2422-2428 • Domek G.J., O'Leary S.T., Bull S. et al. (2018). Measuring vaccine hesitancy: Field testing the WHO SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy survey tool in Guatemala. Vaccine. 36(35):5273-5281. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.07.046. • Gallup. (2020). Honesty/Ethics in professions. Available from: http://www.gallup.com/poll/1654/honesty-ethics-professions.aspx. • Gerges S., Peter E., Bowles S.K. et al. (2018). Pharmacists as vaccinators: An analysis of their experiences and perceptions of their new role. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutic, 14(2): 471-477 • Gombos M. (2021). Expanding the Role of the Pharmacist in the Wake of COVID-19. Pharmacy Times, Available from: https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/expanding-the-role-of-the-pharmacist-in-the-wake-of-covid-19 • Isenor J.E., Edwards N.T., Alia T.A. et al. (2016). Impact of pharmacists as immunizers on vaccination rates: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Vaccine, 34:5708-5723. • Jairoun A.A., Al-Hemyari S.S., Abdulla N.M. et al. (2021). Online medication purchasing during the Covid-19 pandemic: A pilot study from the United Arab Emirates. Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, 14(38). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40545-021-00320-z • Larson H.J., de Figueiredo A., Xiahong Z. et al. (2016). The state of vaccine confidence 2016: global insights through a 67-country survey. EBioMedicine. 12: 295-301. • MacDonald N.E. (2015). Vaccine hesitancy: Definition, scope and determinants. Vaccine. 33(34):4161–4164. • MacDougall D., Halperin B.A., Isenor J. et al. (2016). Routine immunization of adults by pharmacists: Attitudes and beliefs of the Canadian public and health care providers, Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 12:3, 623-631, doi: 10.1080/21645515.2015.1093714 • Merks P., Religioni U., Bilmin K. et al. (2021). Readiness and Willingness to Provide Immunization Services after Pilot Vaccination Training: A Survey among Community Pharmacists Trained and Not Trained in Immunization during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(2): 599 • Meyerson B.E., Ryder P.T., Richey-Smith C. (2013) Achieving pharmacy-based public health-a call for public health engagement. Public Health Reports, 128: 140-143 • Moore A., (2020). No going back: how the pandemic is changing community pharmacy. The Pharmaceutical Journal, 305(7941). doi:10.1211/PJ.2020.20208309 • Murray E., Bieniek K., Del Aguila M. et al (2021). Impact of pharmacy intervention on influenza vaccination acceptance: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. International journal of clinical pharmacy. 1:1-10. doi: 10.1007/s11096-021-01250-1. • Nicola M., Alsafi Z., Sohrabi C. et al. (2020). The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19): A review. International Journal of Surgery. 78:185-193. • Papastergiou J., Folkins C., Li W., Zervas J. (2014). Community pharmacist-administered influenza immunization improves patient access to vaccination. Canadian pharmacists journal. 147(6):359–365. doi:10.1177/1715163514552557 • Rabionet S. (2021). Pharmacy education to transform and strengthen healthcare: a call for action and reflection during COVID-19 epidemic, Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, 12(2): 99–100, https://doi.org/10.1093/jphsr/rmab018 • Report of the SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy. (2014). Available from: http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/meetings/2014/october/1_Report_WORKING_GROUP_vaccine_hesitancy_final.pdf • Robinson J.C. (2021). Funding of Pharmaceutical Innovation During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA. 2021;325(9):825–826. DOI:10.1001/jama.2020.25384 • Yemeke T.T., McMillan S., Marciniak M.W., Ozawa S. (2020) A systematic review of the role of pharmacists in vaccination services in low-and middle-income countries. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy 17(2): 300-306.