Haque Mainul, Kumar Santosh, Charan Jaykaran, Bhatt Rohan, Islam Salequl, Dutta Siddhartha, Abhayanand Jha Pallavi, Sharma Yesh, Sefah Israel, Kurdi Amanj, Wale Janney, Godman Brian
Unit of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Defence Health, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (National Defence University of Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Karnavati University, Gandhinagar, India.
Front Pharmacol. 2021 Jan 14;11:582154. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.582154. eCollection 2020.
COVID-19 has already claimed a considerable number of lives worldwide. However, there are concerns with treatment recommendations given the extent of conflicting results with suggested treatments and misinformation, some of which has resulted in increased prices and shortages alongside increasing use and prices of personal protective equipment (PPE). This is a concern in countries such as India where there have been high patient co-payments and an appreciable number of families going into poverty when members become ill. However, balanced against pricing controls. Community pharmacists play a significant role in disease management in India, and this will remain. Consequently, there is a need to review prices and availability of pertinent medicines during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in India to provide future direction. Assess current utilisation and price changes as well as shortages of pertinent medicines and equipment during the early stages of the pandemic. Multiple approach involving a review of treatments and ongoing activities across India to reduce the spread of the virus alongside questioning pharmacies in selected cities from early March to end May 2020. 111 pharmacies took part, giving a response rate of 80%. Encouragingly, no change in utilisation of antimalarial medicines in 45% of pharmacies despite endorsements and for antibiotics in 57.7% of pharmacies, helped by increasing need for a prescription for dispensing. In addition, increased purchasing of PPE (over 98%). No price increases were seen for antimalarials and antibiotics in 83.8 and 91.9% of pharmacies respectively although shortages were seen for antimalarials in 70.3% of pharmacies, lower for antibiotics (9.9% of pharmacies). However, price increases were typically seen for PPE (over 90% of stores) as well as for analgesics (over 50% of pharmacies). Shortages were also seen for PPE (88.3%). The pandemic has impacted on utilisation and prices of pertinent medicines and PPE in India but moderated by increased scrutiny. Key stakeholder groups can play a role with enhancing evidenced-based approaches and reducing inappropriate purchasing in the future.
新冠病毒肺炎（COVID-19）已在全球夺走了相当数量的生命。然而，鉴于建议治疗方法的结果相互矛盾以及存在错误信息，人们对治疗建议感到担忧，其中一些错误信息导致了价格上涨和短缺，同时个人防护装备（PPE）的使用和价格也在增加。在印度等国家，这是一个令人担忧的问题，在这些国家，患者需支付高额的共同费用，相当数量的家庭在家庭成员患病时陷入贫困。然而，要与价格控制相平衡。社区药剂师在印度的疾病管理中发挥着重要作用，而且这一作用将继续存在。因此，有必要在印度COVID-19大流行的早期阶段审查相关药品的价格和可获得性，以提供未来的方向。评估大流行早期阶段相关药品和设备的当前使用情况、价格变化以及短缺情况。采用多种方法，包括审查印度各地的治疗方法和正在开展的活动，以减少病毒传播，同时在2020年3月初至5月底对选定城市的药店进行询问。111家药店参与其中，回复率为80%。令人鼓舞的是，尽管有推荐，但45%的药店抗疟药使用量没有变化，57.7%的药店抗生素使用量没有变化，这得益于配药时对处方的需求增加。此外，个人防护装备的采购量增加（超过98%）。83.8%的药店抗疟药和91.9%的药店抗生素未见价格上涨，尽管70.3%的药店抗疟药出现短缺，抗生素短缺情况较少（9.9%的药店）。然而，个人防护装备（超过90%的商店）以及镇痛药（超过50%的药店）通常出现价格上涨。个人防护装备也出现短缺（88.3%）。大流行对印度相关药品和个人防护装备的使用及价格产生了影响，但因审查力度加大而有所缓和。关键利益相关者群体可以在加强循证方法和减少未来不当采购方面发挥作用。
