Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a respiratory infectious ailment caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first outbreak of this disease occurred in China and declared a pandemic in a very short period of time. SARS-CoV-2 gets transmitted mainly through the respiratory tract by droplets or respiratory secretions and by direct contact with the infected person as well as indirect contact through touching the contaminated surface accompanied by poor hygiene practice. Until the vaccine, a therapeutic agent or any other treatment modality gets approved; contact tracing and management, social distancing, personal hygiene, respiratory etiquette, and environmental decontamination are the prime factors to be considered for transmission containment and hence for appropriate safety measures for COVID-19 which is possible with the support of social work from the community level.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has portentously frightened the existence of life globally. The lockdown approach was adopted as a containment strategy as the disease itself has manifested severe social, economic, and psychiatric implications. This study was conducted to explore the perception and preparedness of international medical students residing in university hostels amid the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Methods: A total of 11 international medical students were selected through the purposive sampling technique and interviewed face-to-face through the semi-structured interview guide. All the interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and then analyzed for thematic content by standard content analysis framework. Results: The 5 major themes were yielded: familiarity with COVID-19, perceptions and attitudes toward COVID-19, preparedness for safety against COVID-19, barriers to lifestyle, and psychological perspectives. Adequate knowledge regarding the overview of COVID-19; preventive approaches such as social distancing, use of masks, gloves, and sanitizers; and compliance with the lockdown measures were reported by the respondents. The pertinent issue raised by the respondents was the disturbance in normal routine due to distortion in social life and isolation. Conclusion:The findings from this study lighten the people's perspectives that help the government to prepare public health strategies based on population-focused approaches. The present study demonstrates the respondents' opinion on COVID-19 management through personal hygiene, social distancing, and complying with the lockdown measures. Furthermore, it demands the adoption of timely and evidence-based teaching-learning techniques for students' engagement which ensures mental health and self-motivation as well.

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Since the early 1950s, for medication management, the hospital formulary system subsisted as a list of drugs into the supply chain management process in hospitals. With the advent of pharmacy practice services, the system now is more oriented towards the rational use of drugs taking into account the safety of therapy, cost-effectiveness, and uninterrupted availability of drugs to improve and reflect upon the clinical judgment of healthcare professionals. Though very few hospitals in Nepal have adopted hospital formulary system, the perfect practice is still skimpy. The formation of drug and therapeutic committee along with the establishment of hospital pharmacy services is a growing trend with the arrival of hospital pharmacy guidelines 2072, thus, a positive spill-over of the hospital formulary system to each hospital in Nepal would be valuable in promoting rational drug therapy.Keywords: Cost-effectiveness; hospital formulary system, rational drug therapy.