Temperature variations in pharmaceutical storage facilities and knowledge, attitudes, and practices of personnel on proper storage conditions for medicines in southern Malawi.

Objective: We assessed the temperature variations in pharmacies and medicine storage areas in southern Malawi and conducted a knowledge, attitude and practices survey for personnel who manage medicine stores in various health facilities. Methods: This was a longitudinal study design that used installed Tempmate® thermometers in 27 selected health facilities to record temperatures every 15 min for a period of 9 months. In addition, a questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding good pharmaceutical storage. Observations were also made on the storage structures of the facilities and compared with the mean kinetic temperature. Results: Storage temperature ranged from 13.8°C to 42°C with mean kinetic temperature (MKT) being 25.3°C (95% CI 24.4-26.2°C). Mean temperature for public facilities was lower (23.8°C) than the faith-based facilities (25.2°C) and private facilities (26.6°C). In terms of level of health care, lower temperatures were recorded in facilities offering tertiary level of care as compared to secondary and primary care facilities, p < 0.001. For the type of storage facilities, storage-in-a-box unit (SIAB) presented lower temperatures than ordinary storage areas (non-SIAB), p < 0.001. Majority of health workers (69%) had good knowledge on proper storage conditions. Air conditioners and thermometers were available in 88.4 and 76.9% of the facilities, respectively. However, few facilities utilized the air conditioners due to electricity problems. About 46.15% of the participants were able to correctly record temperatures (at least twice a day) for the storage facilities, 23.07% did not properly record while 30.77% of the personnel did not keep temperature records at all. Limited storage space was among the challenges that facilities encounter to maintain proper storage conditions. Conclusion: Despite having the necessary knowledge on proper storage conditions, the pharmacy personnel failed to adhere to good pharmaceutical storage practices due to resource limitations. There is a need for stakeholder interventions such as increasing budget allocation to address the challenges faced by the health facilities.

A web-based survey of UK pharmacists to assess the effectiveness of Viagra Connect® additional risk minimisation measures.

Background To support reclassification in the UK of sildenafil citrate (50 mg) from prescription-only medicine to a pharmacy medicine (P status) under the brand name "Viagra Connect®", additional risk minimisation measures were implemented that included training materials and an optional checklist to assist community pharmacists in the safe supply of Viagra Connect® to suitable patients. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of Viagra Connect® additional risk minimisation measures by assessing community pharmacists' participation in training, their knowledge of key risk messages, and utilisation of the checklist. Setting A post-authorisation safety study implemented as a web-based survey, conducted in a representative population of UK community pharmacists. Method A random sample of community pharmacists who received at least 1 request to supply Viagra Connect® within the past 6 months completed an online questionnaire of 33 closed-ended questions/statements with multiple-choice responses. Data were summarised using descriptive statistics. Main outcome measure Knowledge of key risk messages and dispensing practices communicated in the additional risk minimisation measures. Results The survey was completed by 345 community pharmacists. Respondents displayed a high level of knowledge of key risk messages, with ≥80 % selecting correct answers for 43/51 items. Nearly all respondents (90.1 %) reported that the training materials were useful/very useful, and reported using the checklist at the point of supply (91.9 %). Counselling of patients who requested Viagra Connect® was generally considered a positive exercise. Conclusions The Viagra Connect® additional risk minimisation measures were effective for education of community pharmacists and to ensure safe supply of Viagra Connect® behind-the-counter to patients.