Role of community pharmacy professionals in child health service provision in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional survey in six cities of Amhara regional state

Abstract

<p><b>Background</b></p><p> Community pharmacy professionals have great potential to deliver various public health services aimed at improving service access, particularly in countries with a shortage of health professionals. However, little is known about their involvement in child health service provision in Ethiopia.</p><p><b> Objective</b></p><p> The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of involvement of community pharmacy professionals in child health service provision within Ethiopia.</p><p><b> Methods</b></p><p> A multi-center cross-sectional survey was conducted among 238 community pharmacy professionals from March to July 2020 in Amhara regional state of Ethiopia. Independent samples t-test and one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the mean difference.</p><p><b> Results</b></p><p> Most community pharmacy professionals were 'involved' in providing child health services related to '<i>advice about vitamins/supplements</i>' (46.6%), '<i>advice about infant milk/formulas</i>' (47.1%) and '<i>responding to minor symptoms</i>' (50.8%) for children. The survey revealed that, community pharmacy professionals were less frequently involved in providing childhood '<i>vaccination</i>' services. Further, level of involvement of community pharmacy professionals differed according to participants' licensure level, setting type, responsibility in the facility and previous training experience in child health services.</p><p><b> Conclusion</b></p><p> Community pharmacy professionals have been delivering various levels of child health services, demonstrating ability and capacity in improving access to child health services in Ethiopia. However, there is a need for training and government support to optimize pharmacist engagement and contribution to service delivery.</p>