Belize is one of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with the lowest COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths until recently. The success of a low community spread of the novel coronavirus-19 can be attributed to the government’s rapid response in effective community participation through communication, promoting personal hygiene, social distancing, quarantine, and rapid mapping to trace, identify, and test potentially COVID-19 exposed persons. In addition to effective public awareness, legal and spiritual approaches were utilized to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country of Belize. From March 2020 when the first case was confirmed, the methods employed to curb spread were so effective that no new case was reported for over 50 days. In an attempt to reopen the country for business, the success of effectively preventing widespread of the COVID-19 made the government ease some of the strict preventive measures of community spread. Presently, new COVID-19 cases are being reported as a result of illegal border crossing, repatriations of Belizeans abroad, and the apparent lack of adherence to the earlier measures put in place by the government to curb community spread of the COVID-19. The rise in the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths in Belize seem to jeopardize the success story of community spread earlier recorded in the country. This article presents some of the earlier measures put in place by the government of Belize that effectively curbed the community spread of COVID-19 in the country of Belize. Effective community participation is still the most effective means of preventing COVID-19 spread.

Aim: In Belize, antibiotics are categorized as prescription-only drugs, and their sales over the counter without a prescription is prohibited. This study assessed the sales and dispensing of antibiotics in community pharmacies without a prescription. Methods: 36 community pharmacies in 4 districts of Belize were assessed for non-prescription sales of antibiotics using a simulated client method (SCM) approach from September to November 2019. Results: The majority (19; 52.8%) of the community pharmacies assessed refused to sell antibiotics without a prescription from a physician. Approximately 17 (47.2%) sold and dispensed antibiotics to simulated clients (SCs) without a prescription. Adequate patient counseling was provided by the pharmacists to the SCs. Conclusion: Some level of lack of compliance with the sales of antibiotics without prescription was observed among community pharmacists in this study. There is a need to reinforce stricter control on the sales and dispensing of antibiotics without prescription in the country of Belize.

Introduction: Needless stockpiling of approved medications for the treatment of other diseases cause undue shortages of approved drugs. This study was conducted to assess stockpiling on off-label pharmaceutical products in anticipation of COVID-19 in the country of Belize. The results of the study provide evidence on needless and wasteful stockpiling of medications, with the aim to discourage artificial shortages while reducing the risks of inappropriate medication use.Methods: The study utilized a qualitative phenomenological approach. Interviews using semi-structured questions were conducted with 15 community pharmacists in the country of Belize. The emerged themes and sub-themes were extracted and exported to Excel 2010® for integration, narration, and presented as summary findings.Results: Data analysis yielded three salient and inter-related themes: stockpiled products, motives for stockpiling, and pharmacist response.Conclusion: Panic stockpiling on pharmaceutical products in anticipation of COVID-19 was reported in this study. The World Health Organization advised against the needless stockpiling of approved medications for the treatment of other diseases, thereby causing undue shortages of approved drugs. Observing personal hygiene and social distancing is encouraged as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19.

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Objectives Many students seem to find pharmacology learning very challenging due to the complexity and variety of drugs they have to study. The number of drugs the students have to learn, the duration of time to learn the medications, and the evolving nature of diseases demanded learning beyond the classroom walls. This study explored and described nursing students’ experiences in community and hospital-based pharmacy practice sites during their service-learning and its implications for pharmacology pedagogical practices. Methods Kolb’s learning theory provided the framework to explore nursing students’ 48-hour service-learning experiences at community/hospital-based pharmacies in Belize and its implications for pharmacology pedagogy. The study utilized two qualitative approaches, reflective journals and focus group interviews, to collect data from 46 second-year nursing students. NVivo software and coding schemes were employed to analyze the data from the interviews and reflective journals. Results Students reported learning medications, integrating classroom pharmacological knowledge at pharmacy practice sites, acquiring and enhancing communication skills, interpreting prescriptions, dispensing medications, drug calculations, taking inventory, doing vital signs, and patient education. In addition, students reported experiencing inter-professional relationships as healthcare team members. Anxiety was a major challenge experienced by many students at the beginning of the service-learning experience. Conclusions This study highlights the importance of experiential learning of pharmacology amongst second year nursing students, offering the opportunity to inform and support pharmacotherapeutics educators in designing strategies for more effective teaching of medications to nursing students. It also supports the addition of pharmacy placements to the nursing curriculum’ as it shows that nursing students can learn medications, skills, and teamwork from experiential pharmacy site posting. Combining classroom instruction with pharmacy experiential service learning might be an effective complement for teaching nursing pharmacology.