Conclusion
Pharmacists from the MENA countries believed that they got enough
education previously about epidemics/pandemics, and the majority follow
on the latest coronavirus updates on treatments mostly from social media
followed by the World Health Organization reports and published
literature. The majority believed they have a major role in the
management of the COVID-19, identifying fear as a barrier that requires
resolutions by the policymakers. Certain gaps in the awareness about
COVID-19 were identified, mainly concerning the conflicting news about
Hydroxychloroquine and Ibuprofen use by infected patients. Such findings
highlighted areas of improvement, and indicated that a significant
association is found between higher awareness amongst pharmacists and
the number of cases of COVID-19 patients in the MENA countries involved
in the study. Results of this study have important international
applicability, as pharmacists all over the world share similar barriers,
responsibilities and engagements when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Countries in the MENA region and worldwide share similar undergraduate
pharmacy education and training, in addition to similar healthcare
systems 40, hence
perspectives presented by the thousands of pharmacists involved in this
study are an important springboard for further action.
Funding: This study was funded by the Deanship of Academic
Research at Applied Science Private University, Amman, Jordan.
Conflicts of interest: None.
Specific contributions of each contributor to the paper: All
authors were involved in all parts of study and manuscript preparation
including literature search, study design, analysis of data, manuscript
preparation, and review of manuscript.