Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding sub-standard and falsified medicines among community pharmacy staff in Kawempe Division, Kampala

Abstract

Substandard and falsified medicines have profound health and financial impacts on the healthcare systems and socio-economic lives of individuals, most especially in low- and middle-income countries. Almost half a million sub-Saharan Africans die due to cases relating to substandard and falsified medicines. Studies show that community pharmacy staff role and opinion are vital in the fight against substandard and falsified medicines, and that their knowledge about substandard and falsified medicines can influence their attitudes and practices towards them. This study was aimed at understanding the levels of knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding substandard and falsified medicines among community pharmacy staff in Kawempe division, Kampala. A cross-sectional study was conducted among community pharmacy staff that were randomly sampled from Kawempe division. A semi-structured questionnaire made of four sections (demographics, knowledge, attitudes and practices); was used for data collection. The data was entered into excel sheets, cleaned using Epidata software and thereafter analyzed using SPSS software version 26. Descriptive statistics were used to describe participants’ knowledge, attitudes and practices using means, frequencies and percentages. The response was 223 out of the enrolled 246 community pharmacy staff, a response rate of 90.7%. Overall, out of the 223 participants, 119 (53.4%) demonstrated a low level of knowledge regarding substandard and falsified medicines. However, 113 (50.7%) had a favourable attitude though 112 (51.1%) had a low level of practice regarding substandard/ falsified medicines. The study revealed that the majority of community pharmacy staff in Kawempe division had a low level of knowledge and practice regarding substandard and falsified medicines while more than half had a positive attitude. Regular educational programs and targeted trainings about substandard and falsified medicines are necessary for pharmacy staff to enhance their role in the detection and prevention of substandard/ falsified medicines.