Economic impact of COVID-19 on community pharmacy

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Alshammari, Elham and Suaydan, Dalal Bin and Alhussain, Sarah and Alsaleh, Nada and Alshammari, Ahlam (2020) Economic impact of COVID-19 on community pharmacy. International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences, 11 (SPL1). pp. 510-518. ISSN 0975-7538 (https://doi.org/10.26452/ijrps.v11iSPL1.2840)

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Abstract

The onset of COVID-19 has harmed community pharmacy. As a result, the cur-rent study sought to investigate how the coronavirus disease affected community pharmacies from an economic perspective. Short interviews were con-ducted with 158 community pharmacies located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The findings showed that most of the community pharmacies incurred losses of over 10% as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic during its first month in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, the findings revealed that 19.6% of the pharmacies had a 0.1-2% profit during the first month,1.9% had 10%+ profit, while 13.9% expe-rienced a drop in profits. According to the findings, 41.8% (n = 66) of the pharmacists were not sure what they dispensed during the first month of COVID 19. However, almost one out of every five pharmacies (n = 31, 19.6%) accepted that they mostly dispensed antipyretic, vitamins, face mask and sanitisers. It could take many years from now until researchers can understand and mea-sure the coronavirus disease as required. Based on these outcomes and possi-bilities, the study recommends that the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health inter-vene to enlighten the public on appropriate health practices. Besides, the Ministry of Health may consider engaging with policymakers in developing finan-cial policies that protect community pharmacies and the private sector from potential losses. Moreover, the Ministry of Health may expand the role of community pharmacies to allow them to offer home care services.

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