Knowledge into the Practice against COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study from Ghana.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected populations globally, including Ghana. Knowledge of the COVID-19 disease, and the application of preventive public health interventions are pivotal to its control. Besides a lockdown, measures taken against the spread of the virus include the wearing of face masks, social distancing, regular hand washing with soap and, more recently, vaccination against the virus. In order to establish a possible link between the knowledge of the disease and compliance with preventive measures, including vaccination, a cross-sectional study employing an interview-structured questionnaire was conducted in six regions of Ghana (n = 1560). An adequate level of knowledge of COVID-19 (69.9%) was reported. The linear multiple regression analysis further explicated the differences in the knowledge of COVID-19 among the respondents by their knowledge of cholera and influenza (adjusted R-Square = 0.643). Despite this profound knowledge of the illness, two thirds of the respondents were unwilling to follow basic preventive measures and only 35.3% were willing to be vaccinated. Amazingly, neither knowledge of COVID-19 nor the socio-demographic characteristics had any meaningful influence on the practice of preventive measures. Personal attitude leading to efficient public compliance with preventive measures, therefore, is a critical issue demanding special attention and effective interventions by the government and locals with authority to curb the spread of the pandemic which surpasses the traditional channels of public health communication. This includes a roll-out of persuasion, possibly including public figures and influencers, and in any case, a balanced and open discussion addressing the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to avoid new variants and comparable problems currently facing many countries of Western Europe. Indeed, a profound hesitancy against vaccination may turn African countries such as Ghana for many years into hotspots of new viral variants.

Chemical Impurities: An Epistemological Riddle with Serious Side Effects.

Chemical synthesis is a science and an art. Rooted in laboratory or large-scale manufacture, it results in certain side products, eventually compromising the integrity of the final products. Such "impurities" occur in small amounts and, within chemistry itself, are of little concern. In pharmacy, in contrast, impurities increase the potential for toxicity, side effects, and serious implications for human health and the environment. The pharmaceutical regulatory agencies have therefore developed regulatory and strategic systems to minimize the chemical presence or biological impact of such substances. Here, pharmaceuticals are turned from impure into more defined materials as part of a complex socio-technological system revolving around and constantly evolving its specific rules and regulations. Whilst modern analytical methods indicate the presence of impurities, the interpretations of corresponding results are gated by risk management and agreed thresholds. Ironically, this allows for entities with no identified chemical structures, and hence epistemologically outside chemistry, to be regulated in pharmaceutical products. We will refer to such substances which are not, epistemologically speaking, "chemicals" as Xpurities, in order to distinguish them from recognized and identified impurities. The presence of such Xpurities is surprisingly common and constitutes a major issue in pharmaceutical research and practice. We propose a Space of Information to deal with such impurities based on values regarding the presence, chemical identities, and biological activities. It is anticipated that this may enable pharmacists to handle such Xpurities more efficiently.

Expired Medication: Societal, Regulatory and Ethical Aspects of a Wasted Opportunity.

A massive volume of expired medications amasses annually around the world because of pharmaceutical overprescription, combined with overproduction. The accumulation of pharmaceutical waste imposes ecological, economic and social/ethical burdens. Managing this presumed "waste" has developed into a global challenge due to the absence of specific regulations, unreasonable behavior of the patients, and an improper understanding of the concept of "expired medications" in general. This paper summaries, first, the recent literature reporting practices related to the disposal of unused medications. In this context, 48 papers from 34 countries with a total of 33,832 participants point towards a significant lack of public awareness regarding the appropriate disposal of such biologically potent chemicals. These findings are corroborated by a local survey on the disposal practices of unused medicines among pharmacy students at Saarland University. The regulatory aspects surrounding this topic, often based on the official guidelines for the disposal of expired medications and local waste management strategies, are then discussed in light of these findings. Finally, a closer inspection of the epistemic values of expired medications and different strategies for managing expired medications have been reviewed.