Khojah Hani M J
Department of Clinical and Hospital Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Taibah University, P. O. Box 30051, Madinah 41477, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Pharm J. 2020 Nov;28(11):1402-1407. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2020.09.004. Epub 2020 Sep 17.
Wearing facial masks, hand hygiene, and social distancing are highly recommended preventive measures against COVID-19. Masks and disinfectants are usually sold in community pharmacies that are supposed to undertake extreme precautions to avoid cross infection among clients. It is also their responsibility to play a prominent role in educating the community regarding this outbreak.
To investigate the preparedness of private community pharmacies in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, for the COVID-19 outbreak with regard to safety measures, customer education, and quality of preventive aids sold by them.
One hundred pharmacies were visited by simulated clients. The availability of free hand disinfectants, masks, gloves, and customer educational aids as well as the measures employed to ensure maintenance of safe distances between customers were documented. The adherence of pharmacists and customers to safety precautions and the behavior of pharmacists against violators of regulations were also observed. Finally, the availability and quality of facial masks and hand disinfectants sold by these pharmacies was documented.
Fifty-five pharmacies offered free hand disinfectants but only in three of them all customers used them. Only two pharmacies offered free disposable masks and temperature screening was available in only one pharmacy. Educational aids were found in 31 pharmacies and only 53 pharmacies used visual indicators for social distancing. Violation of wearing masks by pharmacy personnel and customers was seen in 34 and 87 pharmacies, respectively. Social distancing was violated in 64 pharmacies and intervention by staff was seen in only three of them. Finally, facial masks were available for sale in only 35 pharmacies, and in 23 of these, the quality was questionable; hand disinfectants were available in 84 pharmacies, and in 14 of these, the quality was unknown.
Community pharmacies in Madinah were short of registered, high-quality facial masks during the survey. Means to control the transmission of infection inside pharmacies were unsatisfactory. Society has shown poor compliance to preventive measures against COVID-19 infection and the role of community pharmacists in promoting compliance was found to be poor. The study reveals an unsatisfactory level of preparedness of Madinah community pharmacies for the pandemic.
佩戴口罩、手部卫生和保持社交距离是预防新冠病毒的强烈推荐措施。口罩和消毒剂通常在社区药店销售，这些药店应采取极端预防措施以避免顾客之间的交叉感染。它们还有责任在就此次疫情对社区进行教育方面发挥突出作用。
调查沙特阿拉伯麦地那的私立社区药店在新冠疫情爆发时在安全措施、顾客教育以及所售预防用品质量方面的准备情况。
模拟顾客走访了100家药店。记录了免费手部消毒剂、口罩、手套和顾客教育辅助工具的供应情况，以及为确保顾客之间保持安全距离所采取的措施。还观察了药剂师和顾客对安全预防措施的遵守情况以及药剂师对违规者的行为。最后，记录了这些药店所售口罩和手部消毒剂的供应情况和质量。
55家药店提供免费手部消毒剂，但其中只有3家药店的所有顾客都使用了。只有2家药店提供免费一次性口罩，只有1家药店提供体温筛查。31家药店有教育辅助工具，只有53家药店使用视觉标识来保持社交距离。分别有34家和87家药店的药店工作人员和顾客违反了戴口罩规定。64家药店违反了社交距离规定，其中只有3家药店有工作人员进行干预。最后，只有35家药店有口罩出售，其中23家的质量存疑；84家药店有手部消毒剂出售，其中14家的质量不明。
在调查期间，麦地那的社区药店缺乏注册的高质量口罩。药店内控制感染传播的手段不尽人意。社会对新冠病毒感染预防措施的遵守情况较差，且发现社区药剂师在促进遵守方面的作用较差。该研究揭示了麦地那社区药店对疫情的准备水平不尽人意。
