ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Pharmacists’ Perception of their Roles and Involvement in Coronavirus Disease 2019

(COVID-19)

Joda AE*1, Olugbake OA1, Oyetunde OO1, Awofisayo O2, Ibrahim M3, Williams FE4, Ayeni
FA1, Mosanya AU5 and Ologunagba MO6
1
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Biopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos,
Lagos State, Nigeria; 2Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of
Pharmacy, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria ; 3Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty
of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria; 4Department of Clinical Pharmacy and
Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria;
5
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, Faculty of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria; 6Department of Pharmaceutics and
Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria

Address for correspondence:
Dr. Arinola E. Joda
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and
Biopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy,
University of Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria.
Email: arinolaj@gmail.com
To cite this article: Joda AE, Olugbake OA, Oyetunde
OO, Awofisayo O, Ibrahim M, Williams FE, Ayeni FA,
Mosanya AU and Ologunagba MO. Pharmacists’
Perception of their Roles and Involvement in Coronavirus
Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Journal of Basic and Social
Pharmacy Research, 2020;1(Supplement 1):S68-S82
ISSN: 2705-3245

ABSTRACT

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 was declared a “public health emergency of international
concern” in January 2020 and a pandemic in March 2020 by WHO. With lockdown observed
globally, there is greater dependence on pharmacists as the first point of contact to meet the public’s
healthcare needs. However, the roles of pharmacists have not been clearly defined.
Objectives: To document pharmacists’ perceptions of their roles in the COVID 19 outbreak and
adequacy of training for emergency/pandemic situations.
Methods: An online survey using pharmacists WhatsApp groups was carried out. Sample size was
calculated as 384. A mobile App, FormsApp®, was used to create and disseminate the survey among
pharmacists’ WhatsApp groups. Collected data was exported to Microsoft Excel and descriptive and
thematic analysis with coding carried out. Ethical approval was obtained from the Lagos University
Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idiaraba, Lagos.
Results: A total of 716 respondents participated in the study. The result shows 56% female
participation, and respondents’ mean age as 39.04 ±10.46 years. Most common roles by respondents
are counselling and advice (95%), information dissemination (91%) and sales of protective gear
(60%). About 47% of the respondents believe pharmacists are adequately trained for emergencies
while less than a quarter (24.3%) rated pharmacists’ involvement in COVID-19 pandemic as fully
involved.
Conclusion: From the study, pharmacists identified health education and counselling; production of
sanitizers/PPE and drug therapy management as key roles for pharmacists in the pandemic while to
improve involvement, training of pharmacists, provision of PPE and collaboration with emergency
teams were identified.
Keywords: COVID-19; Pharmacists Roles; Perception; Emergencies; Pandemic; Pharmacists
involvement and training
INTRODUCTION
The ongoing outbreak of the respiratory
illness due to SARS-CoV-2, termed
COVID-19 is currently a pandemic disease
and declared so by the World Health
Organization (WHO) on the 11th of March
2020 for the reason that the virus might
spread to countries that do not have robust
health systems1-4. WHO advocates various
public preventive measures such as regular
washing or sanitizing of hands, use of face
masks, reduction in local and international
travel including lockdowns, which
individual countries are working with in
order to “flatten the curve”. With the
lockdown being observed all over the globe
there seems to be a greater dependence on
pharmacists as the first point of contact to
meet the public’s healthcare need5.
Pharmacists have already confirmed their
important role in emergencies during the
previous pandemic of H1N1 influenza and
SARS6-8 as well as the 2014-2016 Ebola
outbreak in West Africa9.
For over four decades, the role of
pharmacists has evolved from mere drug
supplier to provider of services and
information and finally to provider of
patient care via active participation in the
treatment process10. Among other health
care workers (HCWs), pharmacists in
hospital and community practice settings
are trained to play important roles in patient
care during a pandemic11-13.
According to the International
Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), hospital
pharmacies play important roles in
collaborating with other healthcare
professionals in the provision of patient
health care and support; promoting hospital
prevention and infection control; informing
and counselling; ensuring the responsible
use of pharmaceutical products supplies;
pharmacovigilance and monitoring
treatment outcomes14. Community
pharmacies are often the first point of
contact in outbreak-affected and unaffected
areas. Community pharmacists have the
shared responsibility of informing and
2020 – Journal of Basic and Social Pharmacy Research, Volume 1, Supplement 1, September
educating the public, counselling, referring,
promoting disease prevention and infection
control14. With the advent of COVID-19,
hospital pharmacists provide an essential
service to inpatients, outpatients and health
care teams through the provision of
pharmaceutical care and medicines while
community pharmacies provide an essential
public service to the whole population
through the supply of medicines and
pharmaceutical care14. Importantly, both
community and hospital pharmacies ensure
the continuous provision of these services.
The extent of pharmacy services varies
considerably across countries15 though
pharmacists’ expertise is undoubtedly
underutilized globally and especially in
most African countries12. Therefore, in the
midst of a public health crisis of the current
magnitude, it is crucial to identify the roles
and services that pharmacists provide or
believe they can provide to help in relieving
pressure on other areas of the health service
while contributing to overall public
health16. Pharmacists in Nigeria operate
across different practice areas with four
areas being the largest namely community,
hospital, academic and industrial pharmacy
practices. Other areas include
administration, public health, pharmaco-
journalism, consultancy services, etc.
Pharmacists are however, trained to provide
basic pharmaceutical services wherever
they may choose to practice eventually. The
dearth of information about pharmacists’
roles and involvement in the COVID-19
pandemic motivated this study. Thus, the
study aimed to document roles pharmacists
are playing or should be playing in the
COVID 19 outbreak and their perception of
the adequacy of their training for
emergency/pandemic situations.
METHODS
This study was conceptualized during the
lockdown period hence community-based
national sampling was not possible. The
data was collected online using various
Pharmacists’ WhatsApp chat groups that
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the researchers belong to and seeking their
assistance in sharing with other groups. It
was a nationwide cross-sectional study
among pharmacists in authors’ social media
networks across the different practice areas
in Nigeria. Data collection tool was
developed using FormsApp®, an online
mobile tool for developing customized
surveys. The tool was previewed and
pretested using 10 pharmacists to assess its
internal consistency and was consequently
modified to accommodate the
inconsistencies identified. The survey tool
consisted of two parts firstly, questions
pertaining to the sociodemographic status
of the respondents and secondly, questions
pertaining to respondents’ perception of
their roles and adequacy of training. The
questionnaire was developed by the authors
based on currently available information
about COVID-1914,17-19. Sample size of 384
study participants was calculated for this
study at 95% level of confidence, 5%
margin of error and estimated percentage at
50% (Raosoft Sample size calculator)20.
Survey tool was deployed on various
pharmacists’ WhatsApp groups for ten days
to enable willing pharmacists participate in
the study. Daily reminders were sent via
WhatsApp to get as many respondents as
possible in the survey period. Data
collected was checked for completeness
and pre-analysed using the FormsApp®
tool. The entire database was then exported
to Microsoft Excel for further analysis.
Descriptive analysis (frequency,
percentages, means and mode) were
employed to describe the perception of
pharmacists of their roles, involvement and
training in pandemics and emergencies. For
the qualitative questions, a thematic
analysis of responses was performed using
appropriate codes. Results were presented
as charts and tables. Ethical approval was
obtained from the Health and Research
Ethics Committee of the Lagos University
Teaching Hospital, Idiaraba, Lagos by a
Notice of Exemption with health research
committee assigned number:
LUTHHREC/EREV/0720/65
2020 – Journal of Basic and Social Pharmacy Research, Volume 1, Supplement 1, September
RESULTS
A total of 716 pharmacists across all
practice settings participated in the survey.
All the participants completed the forms
thus giving a recovery rate of 100% of
which more than half (55.65%) were
female, and with age range from 20 to 69
years with a mean of 39.04 ±10.46 years.
Pharmacists responded to the survey from
all geopolitical zones of the country (Table
1) with the majority coming from the
Southwest geopolitical zone.
Table 2 below show the most commonly
practiced and recommended protective
measures by pharmacists. The top three
options were washing of hands with soap
and water (98%), use of hand sanitizers
(96%) and social distancing (94%).
Most participants (99.44) think pharmacists
have a role to play in the response to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The four
most frequently selected pharmacists’ roles
were counselling and advice (95%),
information dissemination (91%), sales of
protective gears (60%) and
compounding/production of hand sanitizers
(42%). These four roles cut across all the
practice setting (Table 3).
Table 4 below presents roles that the
respondents would like to be performing in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It
shows that while core roles of counselling
and information dissemination are still
rated highly, respondents would like to be
involved in clinical services including drug
use evaluations, research activities and
ADR monitoring as part of their roles in the
pandemic.
Less than half (46.93%) of the participants
believe pharmacists are adequately trained
to respond to emergencies like the COVID-
19 pandemic as shown in Figure 1 below.
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Table 1: Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents

Items/Variables Frequency (n=716) (%)
Sex
Female 399 55.7
Male 317 44.3
Age
≤ 24 22 3.0
25-34 267 37.3
35-44 201 28.1
45-54 161 22.5
≥55 65 9.1
Practice Group
Administrative pharmacy 34 4.8
Community pharmacy 277 38.7
Industrial pharmacy 28 3.9
Academic pharmacy 54 7.5
Hospital pharmacy 273 38.1
Public Health 37 5.2
Others 13 1.8
Geopolitical zones of
participants
North Central 151 21.0
North East 46 6.4
North West 51 7.1
South East 50 7.0
South-South 90 12.6
South-West 324 45.3
Blank 4 0.6

Items Protective measures Protective measures clients

practiced are advised about
(n=716)* (n=716)*
Wash hands with soap and water 700 (97.8) 700 (97.8)
Use hand sanitizers 686 (95.8) 686 (95.8)
Social distancing 672 (93.9) 672 (93.9)
Use of face masks 480 (67.0) 480 (67.0)
Physical distancing 453 (63.3) 453 (63.3)
Constant sipping of water 345 (48.2) 345 (48.2)
Use of hand gloves 268 (37.4) 268 (37.4)
Use of heat, steam 157 (21.9) 157 (21.9)
Use of lemon and other astringents 89 (12.4) 89 (12.4)
Use of chloroquine as prophylaxis 10 (1.4) 10 (1.4)
Use of chloroquine as treatment 11 (1.54) 11 (1.54)
Total responses 3871 3871
* Multiple responses allowed

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Table 3: Pharmacists’ roles and responses to COVID-19 pandemic in the different practice settings
Items* Administrative Community Industrial Academic Hospital Public Others Total
pharmacy pharmacy pharmacy pharmacy pharmacy health (n=13) (n=716)
(n=34) (n=277) (n=28) (n=54) (n=273) (n=37)
F %/T F %/T F %/T F %/T F %/T F %/T F %/T F %/T
Counselling and advice 33 4.6 270 37.7 26 3.6 50 7.0 206 28.8 35 4.9 57 8.0 677 94.55
Information dissemination 33 4.6 258 36.0 24 3.4 50 7.0 246 34.4 35 4.9 11 1.5 657 91.2
Sale of protective gear 7 1.0 252 35.2 12 1.7 15 2.1 145 20.3 18 2.5 5 0.7 454 60.2
Compounding/Production 5 0.7 116 16.2 17 2.4 14 2.0 163 22.8 15 2.1 1 0.1 331 41.76
of hand sanitizers
Drug use evaluation 4 0.6 104 14.5 8 1.1 11 1.5 97 13.5 10 1.4 1 0.1 235 31.56
ADR monitoring 3 0.4 86 12.0 4 0.6 8 1.1 91 12.7 14 2.0 1 0.1 207 28.35
Event Reporting 8 1.1 86 12.0 8 1.1 14 2.0 91 12.7 17 2.4 0 0.0 224 28.07
Referral services 8 1.1 88 12.3 3 0.4 6 0.8 70 9.8 16 2.2 2 0.3 193 26.4
Other research activities 7 1.0 54 7.5 6 0.8 22 3.1 57 8.0 12 1.7 1 0.1 159 22.21
Assessment of DTPs 2 0.3 57 8.0 3 0.4 7 1.0 70 9.8 11 1.5 1 0.1 151 21.09
Importing/distribution of 4 0.6 57 8.0 8 1.1 4 0.6 51 7.1 7 1.0 0 0.0 131 18.3
sanitizers and drugs
MTM at isolation centres 3 0.4 43 6.0 2 0.3 5 0.7 66 9.2 10 1.4 1 0.1 130 18.16
First line surveillance and 4 0.6 61 8.5 4 0.6 4 0.6 42 5.9 11 1.5 1 0.1 127 17.74
alert
Drug dispensing eg CQ 2 0.3 54 7.5 3 0.4 6 0.8 22 3.1 1 0.1 0 0.0 88 12.29
Compounding/Production 1 0.1 27 3.8 5 0.7 4 0.6 30 4.2 4 0.6 0 0.0 71 9.92
of CQ
Providing acute care at the 1 0.1 27 3.8 3 0.4 2 0.3 25 3.5 3 0.4 0 0.0 61 8.52
isolation centres
Triage services 1 0.1 23 3.2 2 0.3 1 0.1 2 0.3 6 0.8 25 3.5 60 8.38
None of the above 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 0.1 4 0.6 5 0.7
Key: F=frequency; T=Percent responses based on number of respondents involved in the study; ADR=Adverse drug reactions; DTPs=Drug therapy
problems; MTM=Medication therapy management; CQ=Chloroquine; *Multiple responses allowed

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Table 4: Roles respondents would like to perform in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the different practice settings
Items* Administrative community industrial academic hospital Public others Total
pharmacy pharmacy pharmacy pharmacy pharmacy health (n=13) (n=716)
(n=34) (n=277) (n=28) (n=54) (n=273) (n=37)
F %/T F %/T F %/T F %/T F %/T F %/T F %/T F %/T
Counselling and advice 27 3.8 235 32.8 25 3.5 43 6.0 242 33.8 33 4.6 9 1.3 614 85.8
Information dissemination 27 3.8 231 32.3 24 3.4 40 5.6 226 31.6 33 4.6 7 1.0 588 82.1
Sale of protective gear 13 1.8 198 27.7 12 1.7 11 1.5 134 18.7 14 2.0 2 0.3 384 53.6
Compounding/Production of 9 1.3 144 20.1 14 2.0 18 2.5 159 22.2 11 1.5 2 0.3 357 49.9
hand sanitizers
Drug use evaluation 17 2.4 142 19.8 12 1.7 28 3.9 167 23.3 20 2.8 2 0.3 388 54.2
ADR monitoring 13 1.8 137 19.1 9 1.3 18 2.5 171 23.9 21 2.9 3 0.4 372 52.0
Pandemic news reporting 6 0.8 112 15.6 8 1.1 17 2.4 109 15.2 16 2.2 2 0.3 270 37.7
Referral services 8 1.1 99 13.8 6 0.8 9 1.3 76 10.6 11 1.5 2 0.3 211 29.5
Other research activities 14 2.0 128 17.9 11 1.5 42 5.9 130 18.2 19 2.7 1 0.1 345 48.2
Assessment of DTPs for 7 1.0 113 15.8 9 1.3 14 2.0 147 20.5 18 2.5 3 0.4 311 43.4
COVID-19 patients
Importing/distribution of 7 1.0 71 9.9 6 0.8 2 0.3 62 8.7 5 0.7 1 0.1 154 21.5
sanitizers and drugs
MTM at isolation centres 6 0.8 102 14.2 7 1.0 11 1.5 129 18.0 17 2.4 3 0.4 275 38.4
First line surveillance and 8 1.1 82 11.5 6 0.8 5 0.7 73 10.2 10 1.4 4 0.6 188 26.3
alert
Dispensing of drugs like 1 0.1 69 9.6 5 0.7 6 0.8 44 6.1 2 0.3 0 0.0 127 17.7
chloroquine
Compounding/Production of 5 0.7 49 6.8 5 0.7 9 1.3 61 8.5 4 0.6 0 0.0 133 18.6
required drugs e.g. CQ
Providing acute care at the 4 0.6 49 6.8 4 0.6 3 0.4 74 10.3 9 1.3 2 0.3 145 20.3
isolation centres
Triage services 1 0.1 35 4.9 1 0.1 3 0.4 43 6.0 4 0.6 1 0.1 88 12.3
None of the above 0 0.0 1 0.1 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 0.1 2 0.3 1 0.1 5 0.7
Blank 5 0.7 32 4.5 2 0.3 8 1.1 20 2.8 0 0.0 2 0.3 69 9.6
Key: F=frequency; T= Percent responses based on number of respondents involved in the study; ADR=Adverse drug reactions; DTPs=Drug therapy
problems; MTM=Medication therapy management; CQ=Chloroquine; *Multiple responses allowed

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16.8

46.9

36.3

Yes No Not sure

Figure 1: Perception of adequacy of pharmacists training for emergencies

34.9
35.0 32.7

30.0

24.3
25.0
% response

20.0

15.0

10.0

3.9 4.2
5.0

0.0
Don't know Not involved at Barely involved Partially involved Fully involved
all
Perception of level of involvement

Figure 2: Perception of respondents’ level of involvement in the current COVID-19

pandemic

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Figure 2 above shows that less than a quarter
of the respondents (24.3%) rated
pharmacists’ involvement in the COVID-19
pandemic as fully involved and about 5%
indicating that they believed pharmacists
were not involved at all.
Seven thematic areas emerged from
respondents on how pharmacists can
contribute effectively to emergencies. While
many of the respondents picked the role of
pharmacists as custodians and disseminators
of factual information to their clients and
other health-workers [‘Respondent 1’ -
Training, volunteering, dissemination of
accurate and factual information, serve as
referral points to isolation/treatment
centres; ‘Respondent 174’ - Pharmacist as
first point of call could be involved by
government for enlightenment and also be
involved in contact tracing.as point of
reference for distribution of protective
materials in the community], many also
highlighted the need for pharmacists to be
involved in direct COVID-19 patient care
[‘Respondent 5’ - Direct involvement in
drug therapy management; ‘Respondent
563’ - Information dissemination, triaging,
acute care, Medication therapy management
at the isolation/treatment] and triage
services [‘Respondent 168’ - Production
and distribution of protective gear,
information and education and counselling,
triaging and referrals; ‘Respondent 352’ -
They join the health team to make
therapeutic decisions concerning patient,
triaging, dispensing, advising patients and
the people in the community]. Some
respondents also highlighted to need for
pharmacists roles in production of protective
gear including hand sanitizers and face
masks [‘Respondent 10’ - Production of
protective items like the face mask and
sanitizers at subsidised rates for the masses
and discourage price hike of this essential
items; ‘Respondent 100’ - Information
dissemination, production/sale of
protectives like sanitizers, nose masks]. The
themes are highlighted in Table 5 and
include health education and counselling,
production of hand sanitizers and securing
of affordable medicines supply chain. To
improve pharmacists rating of their
involvement in the response to COVID-19,
participants think trainings in public health
and emergency preparedness are needed as
well as collaboration with other health
workers on emergency and public health
activities. Also, recognition of pharmacists
by NCDC/Government were listed as
important.
Tables 6 below shows the impact of
COVID-19 on respondents’ practice with
the most frequent responses being high
turnout of clients seeking protective gear
(49%), increased cost of providing
protective gear for staff (45%) and patients
being unable to come to the pharmacy
because of the lockdown (32%). It also
shows that no statistically significant result
exists when the geopolitical zone of the
respondents was compared with selected
variables.

Table 5: How pharmacists can contribute effectively to such emergencies as COVID-19

Themes Codes Definition
Health Education and ‘Information dissemination’ Pharmacists as sources of correct
Counselling ‘Enlightenment’ ‘Awareness’ information on drugs, prevention
‘Counselling’ ‘drug information’
Production of ‘Production’ Described pharmacists as producing
Sanitizers/PPE PPE especially sanitizers
Drug therapy management ‘pharmaceutical care’ ‘rational use All professional clinical services
of drugs in pandemic’ pharmacists render to patients/clients
Secure affordable ‘Sourcing of relevant drugs’ Assured drug supply and sourcing.
medicines supply chain ‘making available…’ ‘adequate

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availability at all times’ “taking

charge of commodity logistics’
’ ‘drug security’
Research and development ‘Test efficacy of locally available Pharmacists in academia getting
of drugs and vaccines herbs’ involved in research and testing for cure
Signalling /referral ‘Report suspected cases’ ‘making Pharmacists signposting of suspected
referral to the nearest hospital’ cases to the right facilities.
‘first contact’ ‘Participate in active
surveillance and case manage’
Stability in drug pricing ‘Don't hike prices.’ ‘Ethical Described codes that suggests
dispensing, not hiking prices medicines prices not be hiked during
pandemic.
Themes Explanatory notes
Education/Training There seems to be a recognition for need for further training for pharmacists
in disaster and emergency response as well as training in public health.
PPE Provision of PPE – face mask and sanitizers
Public health/ awareness A coordinated public health and awareness program by pharmacists
Collaboration with Respondents described needs for pharmacists to ‘collaborate’, ‘get
emergency team involved’, ‘engage with other health workers especially in the area of
emergency and disaster responses’.
NDDC/ Government Respondents described need for greater recognition and inclusion of
recognition of pharmacists pharmacists by government and other government parastatals
as partners
access/logistics Ensure availability of medicines and prevent hikes in drug prices.

Table 6: Impact of COVID-19 on Respondents practice

Items Frequency % of total % of
responses respondents
(n=1563) (n=716)
High turnout of patients/clients for protective gear 354 22.7 49.4
Increased cost of providing protective gear for my staff 322 20.6 45.0
Patients/clients unable to come cos of stay at home 229 14.7 32.0
More work because there are fewer workers at any one time 224 14.7 31.3
Excessive numbers of patients/clients coming to buy drugs 188 12.03 26.3
like chloroquine
Staying at home 173 11.1 24.2
Had to shut down because positive patient was traced to the 13 0.8 1.8
location
None so far 60 3.8 8.4
Total responses 1563
Items Frequency: df p-value
Yes
Patients/clients unable to come due to stay at home order 229 6 0.366
Staying at home 173 6 0.208
Had to shut down because positive patient was traced to the 13 6 0.515
location

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Joda, et al.: Pharmacists’ Perception of Roles in COVID-19 – JBSPR
DISCUSSION
The enthusiastic response obtained for this
study could be an indication of the
importance of pharmacists as frontline
healthcare professionals21-23. Of the 716
study participants, 56% are females. This is
in contrast with a study in Australia that had
about 72% male participants24. The
difference could be due to the use of social
media in this study. The modal age range
for this study 25 - 34 years is similar to that
obtained from the study in Australia24.
Community pharmacy represent 38.7% of
respondents practice setting while 38.1%
are in hospital pharmacy practice. This is in
contrast with the findings of the study in
Australia where 89% and 11% were from
community pharmacy and hospital
pharmacy practice settings respectively24.
Oseni documented in her study using 2013
PCN data that 56.2% of registered
pharmacists operate in the community
while 23.5% operate in hospital and
administrative pharmacy. Of the
community pharmacists available
nationwide, 41.7% are located in the South
west zone, the zone mostly accounted for in
this study. Though the study did not
document the proportion of the hospital and
administrative pharmacists in the South
west zone, it can be safely assumed that at
least a third of them would be located in the
South west zone25.
The protective measures that Pharmacists
advice clients to use are the same protective
measures that Pharmacists use themselves
(Table 2). This is not surprising since
advice is often based on personal
experience and as healthcare providers
themselves, their experiences should be
based on available evidence. Regarding the
protective measures to curb the spread of
COVID-19, most of the study participants
practice washing of hands with soap and
water, use of hand sanitizers and practice of
social distancing3. The practice of hand
hygiene (wash hands with soap and water
or use hand sanitizers when water is not
available) is in line with infection
2020 – Journal of Basic and Social Pharmacy Research, Volume 1, Supplement 1, September
ISSN: 2705-3245
prevention and control (IPC) standard
precautions3,26. The use of hand hygiene
and social distancing is higher than the
findings in an earlier study carried out in
Japan27. Use of face masks in public is one
of the strategies to slow down or contain the
exponential growth of the pandemic28. The
term “physical distancing” replaces ‘social
distancing’ to underscore the significance
of upholding social support and
solidarity29,30. At the individual level, it
involves maintaining at least one metre
distance from others when in public and
where feasible, use of non-contact greetings
and staying at home when ill. At the
community level, it can involve shielding
the medically vulnerable and closure of any
events where people gather such as schools,
workplaces, places of worship and cultural,
social and sports events thus resulting in
lockdowns29. Use of hand gloves are
recommended in healthcare settings as part
of IPC standard precautions in order to
reduce the risk of contamination of the
HCW, patients and the patient care
environment. There is insufficient evidence
to recommend the regular use of gloves as
a preventive measure for the public
(community or non-healthcare settings)
such as when running errands31.
Nonetheless, the USCDC recommends the
use of gloves when cleaning and caring for
the sick32. The findings of this study where
none of the basic protective measure had
100% score amongst frontline healthcare
professionals has serious implications for
practice.
It is surprising to note that some myths
associated with management of COVID-19
such as sipping of water, use of heat, steam,
lemon and other astringents were being
practiced and recommended by the
respondents. Pharmacists have a
responsibility to correct these myths not
propagate them33-35 and this underscores the
need for continuous updating of ones’
knowledge36 as espoused in the ideals of the
seven-star pharmacist as a lifelong
learner37,38. Notably, less than 2% of the
study participants used chloroquine (CQ) as
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Joda, et al.: Pharmacists’ Perception of Roles in COVID-19 – JBSPR
prophylaxis or treatment of COVID-19 as
chloroquine nor hydroxychloroquine have
been declared by any regulatory agency as
a definitive cure for COVID-19 despite the
controversies surrounding its purported
usefulness in various studies35
The educational roles of pharmacists are
clearly documented in this study and are in
line with FIP guidelines14 and earlier
studies36,39. Other Pharmacists’ roles and
responses to COVID-19 as identified by the
respondents provide proof that Pharmacists
are frontline healthcare workers who should
be involved at all levels of care to enable
patients obtain optimum outcomes of
therapy. That all respondents from the
different practice areas indicate similar
roles and responses to COVID-19 shows
that provision of pharmaceutical care, much
like medical and nursing care, is specific to
the practitioner and not the facility within
which she/he practices.
More of the respondents documented drug
use evaluation, adverse drug monitoring,
assessment of drug therapy problems for
COVID-19 patients, other research
activities, medication therapy management
and referral services as roles they would
like to perform during pandemics such as
COVID-19 over the numbers that indicated
they were currently performing these roles.
This is an indication of pharmacists
expanding their roles as frontline healthcare
professionals24. Responses on triaging of
patients is in line with the findings of earlier
studies39-41.
The result shows that respondents believe
that they need more training to deal with
emergencies and this could be the reason
they are not as involved as they could be in
dealing with the current pandemic12. In
some cases, this may be due to lack of
proper documentation of /or defining of the
activities of pharmacists as frontline
healthcare professionals in the fight against
COVID-19 and other emergencies 12,36. It is
recommended that relevant agencies of
government and the faculties of pharmacy
should swing into action by organizing
update lectures and expanding the
2020 – Journal of Basic and Social Pharmacy Research, Volume 1, Supplement 1, September
ISSN: 2705-3245
undergraduate and/or postgraduate
curriculums to accommodate this aspect.
The study identified seven areas where
pharmacists can effectively contribute to
the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,
which is similar to those documented by
Watson et al.39 in which, education of
public on reducing the spread of
communicable diseases/infections,
ensuring uninterrupted supply of
medications, counselling patients on how to
use and take medications, medication
identification and safety assessment,
triaging low-acuity patients and
coordinating logistics of medications and
medical supplies were prioritized roles of
pharmacists for disaster prevention,
preparedness, response and Recovery
(PPRR).
To improve pharmacists’ involvement in
pandemic situations, the study identified
some similar points as those raised by
Cadogan and Hughes including measures to
reduce the health risks posed by the
pandemic such as in counselling and
information provision; measures to ensure
timely and effective responses from the
healthcare system such as in continuity of
pharmacy services and supply of essential
medicines and protective gear; immediate
actions in response to the pandemic such as
setting up of referral pathways and dealing
with supply shortages of needed drugs and
consumables; and measures to return to
’normal’ activities post-pandemic such as
prioritizing care of vulnerable groups and
re-establishing normal working36.
The study reveals that the greatest impact of
COVID-19 on respondents’ practice were
high turnout of clients seeking to purchase
protective gear including hand sanitizers
and face masks, increased cost of providing
protective gear for staff and patients being
unable to come to the pharmacy because of
the lockdown. This is unlike documented in
previous literature where community
pharmacies are responding to the pandemic
by enhancing medication therapy
management services to patients with
chronic diseases42,43. Similar result on the
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Joda, et al.: Pharmacists’ Perception of Roles in COVID-19 – JBSPR
need for increased provision of protective
gear for pharmacy staff but reduced contact
with patients because of the lockdown was
obtained in a previous study43. A particular
strength of this study is that it came early in
the pandemic hence captured pharmacists’
perceptions as to their roles within the
framework of the uncertainty surrounding
the pandemic.
Limitations
The survey could only be available to
pharmacists on the authors networks either
directly or indirectly through their own
networks. Pharmacists that do not use social
media especially WhatsApp could not be
reached in any way.
CONCLUSION
Pharmacists identified health education and
counselling; production of sanitizers/PPE
and drug therapy management as key roles
for pharmacists in the COVID-19
pandemic. Moreover, education/training of
pharmacists, provision of PPE,
collaboration with emergency teams and
NDDC/Government recognition of
pharmacists as partners would improve
pharmacists’ involvement in the fight
against COVID-19 pandemic.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank all
participants for taking part in this survey.
Our special appreciation goes to those that
helped us to rebroadcast the survey within
their own contacts. The authors declare that
they have no conflict of interest. The study
was funded by the authors.
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