Insight into Turkish Community Pharmacists’ Services in the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

摘要

Community pharmacists (CPs) are the first point of contact for most people during the coronavirus disease (CO VID-19) pandemic. CPs are mainly responsible for the supply of medicines and medical equipment and for delivering patient-oriented pharmaceutical services.1,2 During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, CPs faced many problems, in addition to the usual practice. This letter aims to summarize the actions and precautions taken by the CPs when coping with the COVID-19 pandemic at Turkish community pharmacies and includes comments on a future emergency action plan in the community setting in Turkey. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CPs have informed patients about COVID-19 (including preventive strategies and clinical information). It has proved crucial to provide CP-led medication information services related to evidence-based medicine. There were many efforts to improve the knowledge of CPs about COVID-19. The Turkish Ministry of Health (TMH) released general training materials for health care professionals, including CPs, to improve their knowledge of COVID-19. Before the first case was confirmed in Turkey, videos and brochures with general information about COVID-19 were released by the Turkish Pharmacists’ Association. One of the Turkish guidelines about medication management and medication safety with COVID-19 was published with available evidence by clinical pharmacists during the pandemic.