Cultural Sensitivity and Global Pharmacy Engagement in Asia: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam

Abstract

Schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States increasingly interact with those in Asian countries for various purposes such as education and research. For both those visiting and those hosting, it is important to understand and respect the culture of the other's country to enrich these interactions. This paper, the second of two manuscripts on Asian countries, focuses on India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam. For each country, the following information is provided: general introduction, health care system, pharmacy practice, and pharmacy education, stereotypes and misconceptions, recommendations for US-based health care professionals, faculty members, and students who visit these Asian countries, and recommendations for them to host visitors from these Asian countries. The aim of this paper is to assist US health care professionals, faculty members, and students in initiating and promoting a culturally sensitive engagement.

COVID-19 epidemic in Vietnam: A study on knowledge, attitudes and prevention of pharmacy students

“…Universities have "hypothetical situational" tutorials and exercises for students of real-life disaster situations to verify existing local government plans or any epidemic control systems (Viner et al, 2020). Pharmacy students in the learning process need to be trained to know the needs, the peculiarities of the environment, and the community's culture to become a pharmacist in the health care system (Kawaguchi-Suzuki et al, 2019).…”

Projected niches emerging in pharmacy education among ASEAN countries

“…The PE systems and curricula vary among ASEAN countries. Some ASEAN countries also offer other pathways for entering the pharmacy workforce, i.e., one-year, two-year, and three-year diploma programmes (Vo et al, 2013;Kawaguchi-Suzuki et al, 2019;KPJ Healthcare University College, 2019). The various pathways without a standard will only produce an unskilled pharmacy workforce.…”

“…Pharmacy education (PE) is crucial due to its contribution to producing the pharmacy workforce. Different ASEAN nations have different regulations and policies for governing PE (Padei, 2010;Holloway, 2011;Pongcharoensuk & Prakongpan, 2012;Said, 2012;Ahza, 2013;SPC, 2014Congress of the Philippines, 2016Faller, Tolentino, & Nagaria, 2019). However, research about the implication of ASEAN integration on the PE landscape is scarce.…”

Positioning global pharmacy research partnerships to advance health equity

“…Within pharmacy-specific collaborations, important conversations around issues such as cultural sensitivity are happening, and scholars have provided guidance specific to countries and regions of the world. 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 These must be broadened to provide a historical context and a deeper understanding on the complexities of the global health space, including issues related to power imbalances across collaborating partners. Recent calls to decolonize global health 28 speak to these power imbalances and are important reminders for working towards a more equitable and just global health partnership in program design, implementation, knowledge production, and many related issues.…”