General sale of non-prescription medicinal products: Comparing legislation in two European countries

Lind, Johanna; Schafheutle, Ellen; Hägg, Annika Nordén; Sporrong, Sofia Kälvemark

doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2015.03.002

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…This is because they are typically more accessible than physicians, especially in rural communities 155 . Other factors include long waiting times to see a physician or nurse in PHCs in LMICs, losing income because of loss of work, as well as possibly having to travel long distances to access healthcare professionals in PHCs along with the associated costs 69,134,306,[352][353][354][355][356] .…”

Section: Community Pharmacistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ongoing strategies to improve the management of upper respiratory tract infections and reduce inappropriate antibiotic use particularly among lower and middle-income countries: findings and implications for the future

Godman

Haque

McKimm

et al. 2019

Current Medical Research and Opinion

132

170

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Section: Community Pharmacistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ongoing strategies to improve the management of upper respiratory tract infections and reduce inappropriate antibiotic use particularly among lower and middle-income countries: findings and implications for the future

Godman

Haque

McKimm

et al. 2019

Current Medical Research and Opinion

132

170

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“…Through a process of triage, pharmacists should evaluate what treatment approaches they should suggest for patients with upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs),[3] reflecting their unique position as one of the most accessible health professionals to promote health and well-being of patients. [4] This should not involve recommending an antibiotic as the vast majority of URTIs viral are in origin. [15]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[15] This is illegal in most countries, referred to as self-medication with antibiotics; not to be confused with the legal selling over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. [4] Despite concerns, this practice is still seen worldwide. [6] Predisposing factors toward self-medication with antibiotics include their high perceived appropriateness, ease of obtaining them in some settings, patient attitudes favoring them for minor complaints, and the behavior of some healthcare professionals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initiatives to reduce nonprescription sales and dispensing of antibiotics: Findings and implications

et al. 2017

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Objective:Irrational use of antimicrobials is a major driver of antimicrobial resistance, exacerbated by dispensing antibiotics without a prescription. Our previous study suggested this was a problem in the Republic of Srpska despite legislation. Since then, a number of activities have been initiated. Consequently, the study aimed to ascertain whether these multiple initiatives had reduced this.Methods:Patients visiting all community pharmacies in the Republic from October 2014 to July 2015 presenting with symptoms typical of an acute, viral, and mostly uncomplicated upper respiratory tract infection, with results compared to the previous study. If an antibiotic was suggested, the maximum allowance was €3/pack.Findings:Self-medication with antibiotics significantly decreased from 58% to 18.5% of pharmacies. In both studies, most patients were offered over-the-counter medication. The most common reason for not dispensing an antibiotic was “antibiotics can be dispensed with a prescription only.” The penicillins were the most dispensed antibiotic. Fewer patients than the previous study were given instructions about antibiotic use and no discussion on their side effects.Conclusion:While encouraging that self-medication decreased significantly, 18.5% were disappointing given recent initiatives. Fewer instructions about antibiotics if an antibiotic was dispensed were also disappointing. This suggests the need for even stronger enforcement of the laws as well as further training of pharmacy personnel to ensure the future appropriate use of medicines.

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“…A semi-structured interview protocol with open-ended questions was constructed based on the study aim and research done on the preparatory work [ 12 ]. The interview protocol was modified slightly in regard to the different participants.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two other reforms were introduced the same year (2009). The first was a reform on non-prescription medicines where specific non-prescription medicines were allowed to be sold outside pharmacies, as long as the owner of the establishment selling them reported this to the authorities [ 12 ]. The second was a reform on generic substitution (generic substitution as such already existed).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stakeholders’ expectations and perceived effects of the pharmacy ownership liberalization reform in Sweden: a qualitative interview study

Wisell

Winblad

Sporrong

2016

BMC Health Serv Res

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BackgroundReforms in the health-care sector, including the pharmacy sector, can have different rationales. The Swedish pharmacies were prior to 2009 organized in a state-owned monopoly. In 2009, a liberalization of the ownership took place, in which a majority of the pharmacies were sold to private owners. The rationales for this liberalization changed profoundly during the preparatory work, making it probable that other rationales than the ones first expressed existed. The aim of this study was to explore the underlying rationales (not stated in official documents) for the liberalization in the Swedish pharmacy sector, and also to compare the expectations with the perceived outcomes.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from key stakeholder organizations; i.e., political, patient, and professional organizations. The analysis was performed in steps, and themes were developed in an inductive manner.ResultsOne expectation among the political organization participants was that the ownership liberalization would create opportunities for ideas. The competition introduced in the market was supposed to lead to a more diversified pharmacy sector. After the liberalization, the participants in favor of the liberalization were surprised that the pharmacies were so similar.Among the professional organization participants, one important rationale for the liberalization was to get better use of the pharmacists’ knowledge. However, all the professional, and some of the patient organization participants, thought that the counseling in the pharmacies had deteriorated after the liberalization.As expected in the interviews, the post-liberalization pharmacy sector consists of more pharmacies. However, an unexpected perceived effect of the liberalization was, among participants from all the stakeholder groups, less access to prescription medicines in the pharmacies.ConclusionsThis study showed that the political organization participants had an ideological basis for their opinion. The political stakeholders did not have a clear view about what the liberalization should lead to, apart from abolishing the monopoly. The perceived effects are quite similar in the different stakeholder groups, and not as positive as were expected.

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General sale of non-prescription medicinal products: Comparing legislation in two European countries

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

Ongoing strategies to improve the management of upper respiratory tract infections and reduce inappropriate antibiotic use particularly among lower and middle-income countries: findings and implications for the future

Ongoing strategies to improve the management of upper respiratory tract infections and reduce inappropriate antibiotic use particularly among lower and middle-income countries: findings and implications for the future

Initiatives to reduce nonprescription sales and dispensing of antibiotics: Findings and implications

Stakeholders’ expectations and perceived effects of the pharmacy ownership liberalization reform in Sweden: a qualitative interview study

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