Background: Evaluation of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in cervical cancer patients is important in order to design the interventions for improving patient outcomes. Reports of HRQOL among cervical cancer patients in Indonesia are limited. Moreover, measurement using EQ-5D-3L is to our best knowledge has hitherto not been performed. This study aimed to examine the HRQOL of cervical cancer patients in Indonesia using EQ-5D-3L. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by interviewing cervical cancer patients using the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire. Percentages of patients who reported having problems in each dimension of EQ-5D as well as EQ-5D index score (utility) were calculated. Results: Our findings indicated that the most frequent reported problems were pain/discomfort (67.8%) followed by anxiety/depression (57.5%). The mean of EQ-5D VAS was 75.8 (SD=17.0). The mean (SD) utility scores were 0.85 (0.19), 0.76 (0.20), 0.71 (0.21), and 0.77 (0.13) for cervical cancer patients in stage I, II, III, and IV, respectively. Conclusions: Cervical cancer significantly affects patient HRQOL. Efforts should be made to improve the quality of life of cervical cancer patients especially in terms of pain /discomfort and anxiety/depression reduction.

The practice of community pharmacy in low and middle-income countries, including in Indonesia, is often described as in the state of infancy with several intractable barriers that have been substantially and continuously hampering the practice. Such description might be valid in highlighting how pharmacy is practiced and the conditions within and beyond community pharmacy organizations. Therefore, it is not surprising that the concept of integrating community pharmacy into the primary care system may not be considered in the contemporary discourse despite the fact that community pharmacy has been operating within communities for years. However, in the case of Indonesia, we argue that changes in the health care system within the past decade particularly with the introduction of the universal health coverage (UHC) in 2014, may have significantly amplified the role of pharmacists. There is good evidence which highlights the contribution of pharmacist as a substantial health care element in primary care practice. The initiative for employing pharmacist, identified in this article as primary care pharmacist, in the setting of community health center [puskesmas] and the introduction of affiliated or contracted community pharmacy under the UHC have enabled pharmacist to work together with other primary care providers. Moreover, government agenda under the “Smart Use of Medicines” program [Gema Cermat] recognizes pharmacists as the agent of change for improving the rational use of medicines in the community. Community pharmacy is developing, albeit slowly, and is able to grasp a novel position to deliver pharmacy-related primary care services to the general public through new services, for example drug monitoring and home care. Nevertheless, integrating community pharmacy into primary care is relatively a new notion in the Indonesian setting, and is a challenging process given the presence of barriers in the macro, meso- and micro-level of practice.

Tobacco remains the preventable cause of deaths and disability worldwide. Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for several diseases including cancers (Wong et al., 2010;Rao et al., 2013). Smoking causes many types of cancer such as cancer of the lung, esophagus, larynx, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and cervix, as well as acute myeloid leukemia (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). In fact, tobacco is the single biggest avoidable cause of cancer in the world (Swerdlow et al., 2010). Evidence consistently indicated that stopping smoking can substantially reduce the risk of smoking-related cancer (International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, 2004). More importantly, it was found that offering assistance in quitting has been proven as one of the most effective strategies to tackle tobacco problems (Wong et al., 2010;Beaglehole et al., 2011).To tackle serious health problems attributable to smoking, all health care providers are encouraged to actively involved in smoking cessation services (Hudmon

Objective: To identify the frequency and scope of extemporaneous compounding practice reported in community and hospital pharmacies.Methods: A systematic literature review was undertaken to identify the prevalence of extemporaneous compounding practice in community and hospital pharmacies, including the reasons of providing compounding services.Results: Nine studies were identified and evaluated in which extemporaneous products prepared by pharmacist could be identified. Most of the studies record that prevalence of extemporaneous compounding practice is very low (less than 5%). Prescribing of compounded medicines occurs more frequently in paediatrics and for special patients' need. The major types of extemporaneous compounding products were dermatological dosage forms and followed by oral solutions and oral suspensions. Reasons for providing compounding practice were to make a customised products that not available commercially and to provide full pharmaceutical care to patients. Issues about the stability of compounded products, accuracy in dose strength and lack of standardised protocol in extemporaneous compounding need to be addressed. Conclusion:Extemporaneous compounding practice are an essential part of pharmacist' competency. These unique skills need to be preserved and regulations that cover rationalised compounding practice is necessary.

Background Despite the large treatment gap in Indonesia, limited studies have attempted to explore both service users’ and providers’ evaluations of the current mental health system holistically. This study aims to explore the perceived challenges and support needs of Indonesian mental health stakeholders. Methods This qualitative study collected data from 17 participants from two mental health stakeholders in Yogyakarta (i.e., health professionals and service users) through a semi-structured interview. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results Findings reveal that service providers and users shared equally strong concerns regarding challenges and needs for improving mental health literacy, accessibility to services, and government support. However, a distinct emphasis was made in several areas—with service providers hinting more towards issues with interprofessional collaboration. In contrast, service users emphasized the negative attitude of health professionals and poor accessibility to service information. Conclusion The mental health service system is challenged by the lack of accessibility to service information, the limited spread of mental health practitioners, stigma, and lack of mental health literacy among both the public and professionals. A need for improvement in mental health promotion, accessibility, and quality of mental health workers is highlighted to satisfy the needs of both service users and providers.