TITLE:
The Pandemic COVID-19 and the Auspicious Role of Frontier Pharmacists against This Global Threat
AUTHORS:
Md Jahidul Hasan, Jaime Nead
KEYWORDS:
Pharmacist, Frontline, Pandemic COVID-19, Healthcare Professionals
JOURNAL NAME:
Pharmacology & Pharmacy,
Vol.11 No.9,
September
15,
2020
ABSTRACT: The frontline pharmacists during this pandemic COVID-19
(coronavirus disease 2019) situation are potentially contributing to saving human lives worldwide.
The objective of this study was to demonstrate the current contributions of pharmacists
among the frontline healthcare professionals in the management of the COVID-19
crisis across the world. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic
Reviews, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched for this study from
March 20, 2020 to May 20, 2020. The basic keyword “pharmacist and COVID-19” was
used to select studies. Relevant English-language studies, guidelines,
articles, relevant published reports in different online news portals and
official web pages of different organizations were searched. Pharmacists in the
United States and United Kingdom are testing patients for COVID-19 and
providing medical advice to patients. Community pharmacists in European
countries are focused on the smooth supply of essential medicines, and working
to build awareness regarding the community transmission of COVID-19. Hospital
and clinical pharmacists are working to facilitate the effective medication
therapy management for improving the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients.
Pharmacists in low-and middle-income countries around the world have focused
their efforts mainly on awareness-building activities regarding the community
transmission of COVID-19, and the mass production of alcohol-based
hand-sanitizer. Several resources are globally available for pharmacists to
improve their competency and self-protection from COVID-19. Frontline
pharmacists are enthusiastically contributing in the prevention and treatment
of COVID-19 from a community-to-clinical level worldwide. Their active
participation as a member of the frontline healthcare team is crucial in order
to address and overcome the challenges that this pandemic has created,
and to tackle this global healthcare crisis efficiently.