Pharmacists' Awareness of COVID_19 and Perceptions of their Roles, Barriers, and Roles of Policymakers: exploring the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared in January 2020 as a public health emergency of international concern. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) suffered from several pandemics previously. Pharmacists have vital roles to play to prevent the spread of this virus. OBJECTIVES: To assess the COVID-19 awareness amongst pharmacists from Arabic-speaking countries located in the MENA region, and to assess their perspectives of their role, barriers, and roles of the educational institutions/pharmaceutical associations. METHODS: An online survey was conducted to run a descriptive cross-sectional study in Jordan from 12th to 22nd April 2020. The questionnaire was validated (face validity) and put on Facebook and directed for pharmacists only (clarified in the introduction of the questionnaire). Assessment of pharmacists' awareness (20 questions) about pandemics and COVID-19, their perceived roles and barriers, and roles of the educational institutions (e.g. universities) and pharmaceutical associations (e.g. Pharmacists Syndicate) was done. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). RESULTS: Study participants (n= 2589) had a mean age of 29.3 (8.2) years and 1329 (51.5%) were females. Most of the participants were from Egypt (n= 819, 40.8%), followed by Jordan, Algeria, and Syria. Regarding the sources of information about coronavirus management, 60.8% of participants got their information from the social media. Fear from contracting the coronavirus while performing their duties was reported by the majority of pharmacists as the main barrier to delivering their roles (82.3%). The majority of pharmacists identified positive roles for the pharmaceutical institutions (74.8%) and pharmaceutical associations (63.6%). CONCLUSION: Pharmacists from the MENA countries believe they got enough education previously about pandemics, and the majority follow the latest coronavirus updates from social media. Fear was reported as the major barrier that requires resolution by the policymakers. Certain gaps in the awareness about COVID-19 were identified.