Performance of the pharmaceutical professional during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted not only the population, but also health systems around the world. Hospitals and care networks have been caught up in one of the biggest public health challenges of recent times: a novel coronavirus. In this scenario, pharmaceutical professionals perform an essential function since they are easily accessible to the population through drugstores and pharmacies and are able to offer guidance in the fight against the disease. Thus, the objective of the present study was to observe and report the services and performance of the pharmaceutical professional during the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. To this end, a bibliographic review was performed with a targeted search of scientific articles during the month of June 2020 in the PubMed and Scielo databases. The data were presented in the form of a comparative table containing the objectives of the articles, country of origin and dates of publication, as well as a description of the activities of the pharmaceutical professional cited in the different studies. Based on the results, it was observed the importance of the performance of the pharmaceutical professional in the hospital, community and clinical spheres, during the pandemic, both in the direct care of the patient and in the pharmacotherapeutic contribution in team. Therefore, the role of the pharmacist in the fight against COVID-19 is essential not only in dispensing the drug in pharmacies, but also in the primary care of the patient with reliable guidance and avoiding unnecessary trips to hospitals.