Humanitarian aid and pharmacists' contribution

What is it about?

Objectives. The objective of this study is to present a literature review of articles describing roles and impacts of humanitarian pharmacists in developing countries. Methods. A strategy on Pubmed and a manual search were per- formed from 1990 to July 2016. The articles presenting roles and impacts of humanitarian pharmacists in developing countries were selected. A profile of the roles and impacts of pharmacists was established according to several criteria (main author, year of publication, mission location, funder, objective(s) of the study, duration of the mission, practitioners, interventions, key findings). No statistical analysis was performed. Results. Eighteen articles were included and analyzed. Among the articles identified, 14 described pharmacist interventions during humanitarian missions, 10 reported a positive impact of pharmacist’s interventions and only 2 described a follow-up of actions imple- mented. The activities for which pharmacists are mostly involved are education to healthcare professionals or patients (n = 9), logistics of drug circuit (n = 8), policies and procedures writing (n = 8), phar- maceutical care (n = 7) and drug dispensing (n = 7). ß 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Featured Image