Asmelashe Gelayee Dessalegn, Binega Mekonnen Gashaw, Asrade Atnafe Seyfe, Birarra Mequanent Kassa, Asrie Assefa Belay
Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017;2017:6480142. doi: 10.1155/2017/6480142. Epub 2017 Aug 22.
Herbal medicine use is increasing and the global market is estimated to be US$107 billion by the year 2017.
This study aimed at assessing community pharmacists' personal use, knowledge, attitude, dispensing practice, and the barriers regarding herbal medicines.
Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 47 community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, using a structured interviewing questionnaire.
Nearly half of the respondents ( = 22, 46.8%) sometimes use herbal medicines. Although knowledge related to such preparations was self-rated as poor/acceptable ( = 34, 72.4%), majority ( = 44, 93.7%) of community pharmacists agree/strongly agree that herbal medicines have beneficial effects. Only 6 (12.7%) of them are sometimes/often engaged in dispensing herbal medicines and most of them ( = 34, 72.3%) rarely/never counseled clients regarding these preparations. Limited knowledge on and access to information regarding herbal medicines are the main barriers to the pharmacists' practice.
Although community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, commonly use and demonstrated good attitude towards herbal medicines, they are less involved in dispensing such products. They are also challenged with limited knowledge on and access to herbal medicine information. Thus, pharmacy educators, professional organizations, and the government shall pay more attention to solve the problem. Regulatory provisions on herbal medicine dispensing must be enacted and communicated very well.
草药的使用正在增加，据估计到2017年全球市场价值将达到1070亿美元。
本研究旨在评估社区药剂师对草药的个人使用情况、知识、态度、配药实践以及相关障碍。
在埃塞俄比亚西北部贡德尔的47名社区药剂师中开展了一项基于机构的横断面研究，采用结构化访谈问卷。
近一半的受访者（n = 22，46.8%）有时使用草药。尽管与这类制剂相关的知识自我评估为较差/尚可（n = 34，72.4%），但大多数社区药剂师（n = 44，93.7%）同意/强烈同意草药有有益效果。其中只有6人（12.7%）有时/经常从事草药配药工作，而且他们中的大多数人（n = 34，72.3%）很少/从未就这些制剂向客户提供咨询。对草药知识的了解有限以及获取相关信息的途径有限是药剂师实践的主要障碍。
尽管埃塞俄比亚西北部贡德尔的社区药剂师普遍使用草药并对其表现出良好态度，但他们较少参与此类产品的配药工作。他们还面临着草药知识有限和获取草药信息途径有限的挑战。因此，药学教育工作者、专业组织和政府应更加重视解决这一问题。必须制定并很好地宣传关于草药配药的监管规定。
