Department of Pharmacy, School of Science, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Kavre, Nepal.
Department of Management Informatics and Communication, School of Management, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Kavre, Nepal.
PLoS One. 2023 Jan 6;18(1):e0280160. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280160. eCollection 2023.
Nepal is facing escalating infection rates of HIV/AIDS, a major global public health threat. Continuum of services is an identified strategic component of Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) commitment to end this public health crisis by 2030 and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). Pharmacists are integral members of the continuum of care in HIV/AIDS but the idea is novel to Nepal. Realizing need to explore and identify potential roles of pharmacists in HIV/AIDS care delivery, this study aimed to gain an insight into the views of stakeholders on the roles of pharmacists in this arena.
A qualitative approach was used where 14 key informants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol. Participants were selected through a sequence of purposive sampling and snowball sampling technique. The interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Potential roles of pharmacists reside in adherence monitoring, pharmacovigilance, provincial and district level ART centers. Pharmacists and other stakeholders held divergent views on the pharmacist's role in dispensing and counseling antiretroviral medications. Barriers to the pharmacists' involvement were lack of workforce, advocacy and government support, frailty of professional organizations, self-limited scope, policy constraints, structural limitations, biasedness, and societal unawareness. Pharmacists themselves and organizations such as National Government Organizations (NGOs) and International Government Organizations (INGOs) were identified as the facilitators.
Stakeholders are willing to expand role of pharmacists in HIV/AIDS care in Nepal. Nevertheless, some crucial impediments exist. Primarily, an aggressive and assertive advocacy is needed from pharmacists themselves and their professional organizations to establish their roles in HIV/AIDS care delivery. Additionally, unearthing potential of pharmacists as contributors in HIV/AIDS care delivery or any other chronic disease management equally demands a strong support from the government officials as well as the other health care professionals.
尼泊尔正面临着艾滋病毒/艾滋病感染率不断上升的问题，这是一个重大的全球公共卫生威胁。联合国艾滋病规划署（UNAIDS）提出的服务连续性是其承诺的战略组成部分之一，旨在到 2030 年结束这一公共卫生危机，并实现可持续发展目标 6（SDG 6）。药剂师是艾滋病毒/艾滋病护理连续性服务的重要组成部分，但这在尼泊尔是一个新的概念。为了探索和确定药剂师在艾滋病毒/艾滋病护理方面的潜在作用，本研究旨在深入了解利益相关者对药剂师在这一领域作用的看法。
本研究采用定性方法，对 14 名关键信息提供者进行了半结构化访谈。参与者是通过有针对性的抽样和滚雪球抽样技术选择的。访谈以书面形式记录并进行了逐字转录，然后使用主题分析进行分析。
药剂师的潜在作用包括监测依从性、药物警戒、省级和地区一级的抗逆转录病毒治疗中心。药剂师和其他利益相关者对药剂师在配药和咨询抗逆转录病毒药物方面的作用存在不同看法。药剂师参与的障碍包括劳动力短缺、宣传和政府支持不足、专业组织脆弱、自我限制的范围、政策限制、结构限制、偏见和社会意识不足。药剂师本身以及国家政府组织（NGO）和国际政府组织（INGO）等组织被确定为促进因素。
利益相关者愿意在尼泊尔扩大药剂师在艾滋病毒/艾滋病护理中的作用。然而，仍然存在一些关键障碍。药剂师及其专业组织需要积极主动地进行宣传，以确立他们在艾滋病毒/艾滋病护理中的作用。此外，要挖掘药剂师在艾滋病毒/艾滋病护理或任何其他慢性病管理方面的潜力，同样需要政府官员以及其他卫生保健专业人员的大力支持。
