Pharmacy articles list

Hypertension is a public health issue that significantly increases the risk of health problems and decreases health quality of life of the patients. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors are used to control hypertension by preventing production of angiotensin II in turn decrease blood pressure, thus it may enhance the quality of life. This study aims to assess the effect of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors on the quality of life of patients with hypertensive aging 40 years or older in Benghazi city in comparison with other classes of hypertension medications. A case control observational study was conducted, adopting the structured face-to-face interviewing survey technique. Over 150 patients who visited Benghazi medical center during the study period (November, 2019 to March, 2020), to follow up their chronic disease. The investigators used a pre-validated, pre-piloted questionnaire that has been adopted from SF 36 and modified according to the updated literature review; responses to each question were coded and analyzed. The results display that antihypertensive medications were found to be significantly related to the limitation on the physical activity domain and found that medications decrease the limitation on the activity with about 20% of the patients who taking angiotensin receptor blockers (20%) and 30% of the patients taking angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, 40% of the patients had no limitations on bending kneeling and stooping. Moreover, on the limitations on walking more than one kilometre, the results were about 15% of the patients taking angiotensin receptor blockers and 30% of the patients taking angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors had a slightly or no limitation on walking more than a kilometre. Thus, the findings indicate that antihypertensive medications have a positive effect on quality of life of the patient in limitation on activity domain but no conclusive difference was found between angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers medications.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Contact between pharmaceutical company representatives (PCRs) and medical practitioners is viewed by drug companies as a vital part of their marketing strategy. Studies show that PCRs employ persuasion disguised as information. Because PCRs are keenly involved in competitive marketing, they are more likely to use persuasion than information during their promotional visits. Information increases customer awareness of a particular product without influencing the preferences. Persuasive marketing directly influences a consumer’s brand preference. Positively influencing a prescriber’s attitude towards a product is essential for effective marketing since there is an association between attitude, intention and behaviour. Numerous studies find that pharmaceutical promotional interactions have an impact on physician’s perceptions and their prescribing practices. Yet, many of today's health professionals do not acknowledge their vulnerability to being misled by pharmaceutical marketing. This study demonstrate that Pharmaceutical promotion strategies do not differ greatly from those of other types of marketing, PCRs more likely to use persuasion to highlight the perceived difference of their particular brand. Persuasion often has a subtle influence that is not easy to detect and physicians should receive education regarding the drug promotion techniques used by pharmaceutical companies. Persuasion often has a subtle influence that is not easy to detect. Overconfidence is a major risk factor for being misled. This analysis highlights some critical aspects of persuasive communication by PCRs in promotional visits. It will help prescribers to interpret, evaluate and respond appropriately to manipulative behaviour by PCRs.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Inflammation is a natural aspect of the immune system's response. Pain, redness, heat or warmth, and swelling are the four major symptoms of inflammation. Plants can generate a vast range of phytochemical substances as secondary metabolites, all of which have anti-inflammatory properties. Herbal medicines are significant cures for the treatment of a variety of disorders around the world. Medicinal plants are made up of roughly 7500 species, with representatives from about 17,000 higher flowering plant species. Even when synthetic chemistry has advanced beyond expectations, the utilization of natural products in the production of medications utilized in modern medicine is unrivalled. Anti-inflammatory medicines can help to reduce tissue damage and improve patient comfort by interfering with the pathophysiology of inflammation. As a result of the huge number of species available for investigation, the effective creation of new naturally occurring anti-inflammatory medications relies mostly on a multidisciplinary approach to finding new compounds. Despite the fact that many review articles have been written in this area, the vast majority of them only looked at the subject from a regional perspective. Various non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines have been proven to alleviate pain and inflammation by inhibiting the isoform of cyclooxygenase enzyme's digestion of arachidonic acid, hence lowering prostaglandin synthesis. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines come with a slew of negative side effects. Thus, there are, however, medicinal herbs that have anti-inflammatory therapeutic properties with a little or no negative side effects.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

The most successful and cost effective method for control the COVID-19 pandemic is the vaccination. Currently, there are different COVID-19 vaccine introduced into Libyan market. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine among general population and students in Benghazi city. A cross sectional survey was conducted during March 2021 among 440 respondents (240 general populations and 200 students) using a self-administered questionnaire. The results were considerably similar among the two groups of participants. Only 10.9% said that they infected with COVID-19 during the pandemic period. About two thirds of the respondents agreed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when available whereas the majority said they would wait some time before taking the vaccine (71.4%). Approximately, one third of the participants preferred the Sputnik vaccine, 24% preferred the Pfizer and BioNTech and 19.2% preferred Oxford (AstraZeneca) vaccine. More than a half (55.9%) of the participants are refused to pay for the vaccine. The majority of the respondents do not think the vaccine alone will be enough in protection against the COVID-19 (79.8%). There was no significant association between general population, students and the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (p = 0.776). Additionally, there was no significant correlations between socio-demographic data and attitudes of the respondents with the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine (p > 0.05), except for using hand sanitizers daily was significantly associated among the general population (p = 0.008). In conclusion, although, the general population and students have a good acceptability to the COVID-19 vaccine, more education health programs and promotion are wanted to reduce the vaccine hesitancy by declaring the importance of the vaccine, showing sufficient data stabilize the vaccine safety.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Algae are used by human beings for food from ancient times, as they contain a wide range of elements. Using inexpensive, in-house bioassays for screening and monitoring of extracts where the aim of these bioassays is to provide a front-line screen that can be followed up by more specific and expensive bioassays. The phytochemical screening, assessment of toxicity and effects on growth parameters of Traticum sativum of ethanol and dichloromethane extracts of five macro-algal species (two green, two brown and one red) collected from Libyan coast were studied. The Brine shrimp lethality assay was conducted to determine the toxic effects of seaweed extracts on Artemia Salina nauplii larvae and this was to provide a front-line screen that can be backed up by specific and expensive bioassays once the active compounds have been isolated. The effect of seaweeds liquid fertilizer on growth parameters of Traticum sativum were examined using in vitro seed germination in petri dishes bioassay. Seed germination percentage, fresh and dry weight, shoots length and roots length were the parameters recorded in young seedlings post germination. Ethanolic and dichloromethane extracts of the five algae samples represented the presence of several chemical constituents. All extracts exhibited LC50 > 1000 μg per ml. In this study, all algal extracts are non-toxic according to Brine shrimp lethality assay so they may be considered as edible seaweeds. Different effects on growth parameters of Traticum sativum suggested the presence of micro-elements, macro-elements and different concentrations of plant growth hormones.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Vitamin C causes a significant change in pharmacological effects of some drugs which may lead to unpredictable responses. Vitamin C-haloperidol interaction has not been confirmed in vivo. This study was aimed to investigate the influence of vitamin C on some pharmacological effects of haloperidol (extrapyramidal side effects caused by the antipsychotic haloperidol). Albino male mice (n = 24, body weight of 20 - 40 gm) were divided into four groups and each of consists of six mice. Group I (control): given 1% Tween 80 solution, group II: given vitamin C in a dose of 100 mg/kg, group III: given haloperidol (2 mg/kg), while group IV: given a combination of vitamin C and haloperidol. All the treatments were given by intraperitoneal route of administration. Three sub-acute doses of different treatments were given at 24:0, 5:0, 1:0 hour before scoring. Parameters scored were catalepsy, ptosis, rigidity and akinesia. The experiment was repeated using vitamin C in a dose of 500 mg/kg. Both doses of 100 and 500 mg/kg of vitamin C significantly antagonized the effect of haloperidol by decreasing all the tested parameters. The results indicate that vitamin C decreases extrapyramidal side effects caused by the antipsychotic haloperidol and show that it successfully decreases catalepsy, ptosis, rigidity and akinesia in mice.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

The pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) presents an unprecedented challenge to identify effective drugs in the prevention and treatment process. At present, there is no proven therapy for this disease, although therapeutic approaches continue to be carried out using traditional medicines (herbal) and pharmacological therapy. Information about SARS-CoV-2 virology has rapidly developed and scientists try to provide a number of potential drugs. Remdesivir has strong in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2. Several potential drugs are currently underway in a clinical trial. Chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and oseltamivir have not been proven to have efficacy, and the benefits of corticosteroids are still diverse. Current clinical evidence does not support the termination of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, coagulation therapy in patients with COVID-19 concomitant with comorbidities.

Syahrul Tuba

The kidney stones are one of the most widely spreading disorders in the world. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of ethanolic extract of Didymocarpuspedicellata and Ashwagandha for its antiurolithiatic activity in rats. Urolithiasis was induced in adult male albino wistar rats by 0.75% of ethylene glycol for 28 days. The effect of the oral administration of the ethanolicextracts has been studied and is compared with the effect of oral administration of Cystone(Himalaya) as a standard on Wistar rat. Ethylene glycol feeding resulted in hyperoxaluria as well as increased renal excretion of calciumand phosphate. Supplementation with ethanolic extract of the plants significantly reduced the elevated urinary oxalate, showing a regulatory action on endogenous oxalate synthesis. Both the plant extract showed significant antiurolithiatic activity

Zeenath Banu

The kidney stones are one of the most widely spreading disorders in the world. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of ethanolic extract of Didymocarpuspedicellata and Ashwagandha for its antiurolithiatic activity in rats. Urolithiasis was induced in adult male albino wistar rats by 0.75% of ethylene glycol for 28 days. The effect of the oral administration of the ethanolicextracts has been studied and is compared with the effect of oral administration of Cystone(Himalaya) as a standard on Wistar rat. Ethylene glycol feeding resulted in hyperoxaluria as well as increased renal excretion of calciumand phosphate. Supplementation with ethanolic extract of the plants significantly reduced the elevated urinary oxalate, showing a regulatory action on endogenous oxalate synthesis. Both the plant extract showed significant antiurolithiatic activity

Zeenath Banu

Pharmacy education has evolved from the outdated changing 5 to 4 year dispensing pharmacy program that focus on the medicines value the compounding and dispensing to patient-oriented pharmacy program (Pharm D) that focus on patient, experiential learning (practicum courses), evidence -based program that does foster critical thinking, and clinical reasoning skills [1] and improving patient care.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Cardiovascular drugs constitute one of the largest and most widely used among other diseases and cardiovascular drug market has largely been exploded . Although these drugs have the potential to significantly improve the treatment of various cardiac diseases. They are potent agents with potential for serious adverse effects, toxicity and drug interactions. Newer agents are considerably costly than older drugs and, therefore, cost-effective strategies must be developed. Thrombolytics are pharmacological agents come from bacterial origin as streptokinase and staphylokinase or from human origin as urokinase or t-PA. Thrombolytics are used to restore blood flow to infracted artery quickly. Only streptokinase, alteplase, reteplase and tenecteplase are approved by US-FDA for treatment of ST-elevation myocardial infraction (ST-EMI) [3]. This reopens blood vessels after their occlusion and prevents tissue necrosis. Although, the safe and effective use of each of these drugs requires a thorough understanding of appropriate patient selection, drug timing, dosing regimens and monitoring parameters. The greatest benefit to risk ratio for specific drugs is seen in certain subsets of patients the complexities of cardiovascular drug therapy illustrate the need for an in depth current knowledge of clinical trial evidence.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Improper use of medicines may carry possible health dangers and more evidence continues to stand that adverse drug reactions to medicines are common but often preventable. Self-medication phenomena with over the counter medicines is common among people. It is regarded as essential issue of self-care. Over the counter medicines use such as analgesics among children and adolescents is continuously increasing in Libya. This constitutes an important public health concern. The aim of this study is to focus on adolescent's self-medication phenomena about the over the counter medicines that teens frequently used to treat minor and serious diseases. This work collected information throughout survey-comprised number of questions for the teenagers bought medicines from private pharmacies at two different secondary schools in Benghazi city, Libya, without prescription. The sample size was 120 students, 58 males and 62 females in age range of 15-18 years. Data collected from questionnaire were analyzed for pattern of medicine use. Male adolescents bought toothache and muscle-spasm medicines more frequently than female adolescents. On the other hand, female adolescents administered more over the counter medications monthly than males. The use of over the counter medicines has been found highly rated and exaggerated among secondary school teenagers. In conclusion, adolescents have to be educated regarding over the counter medicine use in Libya. The need for promoting the appropriate use of medicines healthcare system is an important issue. This can be achieved through an educational strategy involved different public sectors such as health and education authorities.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Moringa oleifera, a very important healthful plant, is one amongst the foremost wide cultivated species of the family Moringaceae. It's extremely valued from past as a result of its large healthful properties. Moringa oleifera, native to India, grows within the tropical and climatic zone regions of the globe. It's commonly called drumstick tree or horseradish tree. Moringa will face up to each severe drought and gentle frost conditions and, therefore wide, cultivated across the globe. With its high alimentary values, each part of the tree is appropriate for either nutritional or commercial purposes. The leaves are rich in minerals, vitamins and alternative essential phytochemicals. Extracts from the leaves are useful in treatment of anemia, enhance breast milk in wet mothers. It's used as a potential antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and antimicrobial agent. Thus, this study was aim to investigate the phytoconstituents from ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the Moringa oleifera cultivated in Libya and to assess its anti-bacterial and anti-diabetics activity. The phytochemical investigations of these extracts of Moringa oleifera revealed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins, steroids, tannins and phenolic compounds. The antibacterial activity of cold and hot extraction of methanolic and water extracts of Moringa oleifera by using the well diffusion method were assessed. Results revealed that there was a profound antibacterial activity of the studied Moringa oleifera against representatives of Gram-positive bacteria. After in vitro evaluation of anti-hyperglycemic properties of the ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera by testing its capacity to inhibit α-amylase activity, the methanolic extract exhibited inhibitory effect on the α-amylase enzyme.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Market trends indicate that natural health products are being used to maintain health as well as prevent and treat many medical conditions. A recent Canadian survey showed that 71% of the Canadian population have used a natural health product. Among these, many reports that they take natural health products on a daily basis. This review emphasizes on Canadian post-market surveillance system that apply to natural health products for human use. The public's perception is that the natural health products are all-natural, safe and effective, but there is still a wide variety of harms linked with these products. The post-market surveillance system is the monitoring window to observe and control the adverse effects of using natural health products. There are many activities involved in the post-surveillance to ensure the quality of the approved natural health products. Despite the fact that post-market surveillance plays a very important role in eliminating and/or reduce the risk of using natural health products, there are still some challenges and more work to be done to improve the outcome of the post-market surveillance of the natural health products.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Vitamin C is associated with history of the cause of the ancient hemorrhagic disease scurvy. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient with important antioxidant properties. It is required by the body for normal physiological function. The body cannot synthesize vitamin C, it is present in nature through foods and other natural sources and it exists as a nutritional food supplement. The antioxidant activity of vitamin C protects the body from free radical damage. Vitamin C is essential for the development and maintenance of connective tissues. It is used as therapeutic agent in many diseases and disorders. Vitamin C plays an important role in several metabolic functions, as the conversion of the amino acid, tryptophan, to the neurotransmitter, serotonin, and the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids. Vitamin C supplementation resulted in a significant increase in vitamin C levels in populations; its high intake is associated with positive effects on cardiovascular risk factors. Vitamin C protects the immune system, reduces the severity of allergic reactions and helps to fight infections. It has an important role in bone formation, wound healing and the maintenance of healthy gums. There is profound beneficial effect of vitamin C in respect to human diseases as cancer, atherosclerosis, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease and many metal toxicities. Several vitamin C analogs have been produced as anticancer and antioxidant activity. Vitamin C is useful if it is used as adjuvant therapy for several chronic diseases. Thus, this review summarizes the importance of vitamin C in the body’s physiology and biochemistry, in addition, the different mechanisms that vitamin C is implicated to treat different acute and chronic diseases. Future exploration should pay attention to chronic disease management by vitamin C.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Vitamin C is associated with history of the cause of the ancient hemorrhagic disease scurvy. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient with important antioxidant properties. It is required by the body for normal physiological function. The body cannot synthesize vitamin C, it is present in nature through foods and other natural sources and it exists as a nutritional food supplement. The antioxidant activity of vitamin C protects the body from free radical damage. Vitamin C is essential for the development and maintenance of connective tissues. It is used as therapeutic agent in many diseases and disorders. Vitamin C plays an important role in several metabolic functions, as the conversion of the amino acid, tryptophan, to the neurotransmitter, serotonin, and the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids. Vitamin C supplementation resulted in a significant increase in vitamin C levels in populations; its high intake is associated with positive effects on cardiovascular risk factors. Vitamin C protects the immune system, reduces the severity of allergic reactions and helps to fight infections. It has an important role in bone formation, wound healing and the maintenance of healthy gums. There is profound beneficial effect of vitamin C in respect to human diseases as cancer, atherosclerosis, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease and many metal toxicities. Several vitamin C analogs have been produced as anticancer and antioxidant activity. Vitamin C is useful if it is used as adjuvant therapy for several chronic diseases. Thus, this review summarizes the importance of vitamin C in the body’s physiology and biochemistry, in addition, the different mechanisms that vitamin C is implicated to treat different acute and chronic diseases. Future exploration should pay attention to chronic disease management by vitamin C.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

COVID-19 pandemic has spread all over the world and has caused psychological impacts. Medical students are known to be vulnerable population, experiencing higher levels of anxiety, depression and other psychological disorders compared to non-medical students. The nature of life changes like what happened and still happening during the pandemic have its impact on mental health of the students. The aim of this study was to identify the psychological impacts of COVID-19 on medical students among different universities to develop profiles to characterize students' anticipated levels of psychological impacts during the pandemic. Also, to search for potential risk factors that could make students more likely to experience these impacts. An online survey was filled by medical students (n = 100) at faculties of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and medical sciences of different universities: University of Benghazi, Libyan International Medical University, Omar Almokhtar University, Cairo University and Alexandria University. The students were taken to the further analysis. Thus, 55% of the participants had psychological impacts due to the pandemic and 17% had severe effect. Some of these impacts were actually positive as a large number (58%) of the participants felt relaxed during the pandemic. Multiple stressors were identified that contributed to the increased levels of stress, anxiety and depression. These included concern about academic performance (80%), concern about self/dear-one’s health (90%), difficulty with concentration (46%), disruption to sleeping patterns (78%), increased social isolation (26%), disruption to eating patterns (48%), changing in the living environment (26%), financial difficulties (34%) increased class workload (20%) depressive thoughts (37%) and suicidal thoughts (07%). In conclusion, the study indicates that COVID-19 pandemic have positive and negative impacts on medical students. Thus, it is suggested that measures need to alleviate students’ stress, which might have harmful effects in different aspects.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Self-medication with antibiotics is becoming a trend that threats the health systems worldwide through developing bacterial resistance which is associated with high health care costs and increased rate of morbidity and mortality. The main objective of this study is to assess antibiotic self-medication practice among Libyan university pharmacy students. This is a cross-sectional study conducted among pharmacy students at Sabratha University in the western region of Libya. A validated questionnaire was used to collect relevant data which were statistically analyzed. A total of 170 undergraduate Pharmacy students participated in the study during spring 2021. About 80% of the participants reported the use of antibiotics without consulting a physician. The major reason for using antibiotics was to get a quick relief of emergency conditions which was reported by 35% of the students. About 25% of the students used antibiotics to relieve their pains and aches. The most commonly used antibiotic was amoxicillin (55%). Most antibiotics were obtained over the counter from community pharmacies (85%). Half of the participants were not sure if they can advise patients to use antibiotics without a prescription, although 60% of them believed that it was good practice. In conclusion, prevalence of antibiotic self-medication among university pharmacy undergraduate students is high. Thus, serious interventions are required to ensure safe and effective use of antibiotics among the population in Libya.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus was considered as lower grade pathogen involved in endocarditis. Recent accumulating evidence has suggested that Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus plays an important role in the initiation and development of colorectal cancer. This study was aimed to address the association between Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus and colorectal cancer among Libyan patients, to determine the dominant biotype of Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus associated with colorectal cancer patients and to evaluate the antibiotic susceptibly patterns of isolated strains. The study involved 20 colorectal cancer patients, 20 patients with large adenomas polyp and 20 people with healthy colonic mucosa as a control group. All the candidates were subjected to colonoscopy and histopathological examinations and conformation. The suspected and normal cases were then diagnosed according to the protocol used by the medicine specialist and grouped in accord with the study aim. All biopsies were handled and treated to isolate the suspected positive colonies of Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus. Of the 20 colorectal cancer patients, seven patients (35%) were found to be Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus carriers, (95% CI 1.22 - 1.72, p < 0.05). Nine patients (45%) were diagnosed colorectal cancer positive at age above 60 years old, eight patients (40%) at age 40 - 60 years old and three patients (15%) at age bellow 40 years old. Also, nine out of 20 patients (45%) with large adenomas polyp were found to be Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus carriers, (95% CI 2.16 - 2.71, p < 0.05). Of the 20 healthy people with colonic mucosa, Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus never been isolated. Streptococcus. bovis biotype II/I and Streptococcus. equinis were both susceptible to the above mentioned antibiotic classes, although Streptococcus bovis biotype I was highly resistance to most clinically used antibiotics. However, there was strong relationship between Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus and colorectal cancer or large polyp formation. However, it is not well understood whether the bacterium has a pathogenic role in the initiation and progression of neoplasia or just an epiphenomenon of colorectal neoplasms.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Community pharmacies not only act as sites of drug purchase but also as healthcare setting. The aim of this study is to examine the extent of public’s use of community pharmacy and their reasons of visiting to Sabha, South part of Libya. Thus, a descriptive, cross-sectional survey with self-administered questionnaire was developed and validated. Data was collected during 2019 by registered pharmacists using the self-designed prepared questionnaire for community pharmacies in Sebha. Of all 600 questionnaires were handed during 2020, 462 forms were returned (77%, response rate). The majority of the respondents reported they had visited the community pharmacies at least once in a month (n = 343, 74%). The highest reason of visiting reported by the respondents was dispensing their prescription medications (n = 304, 65%) while purchasing medication without prescriptions was accounted with n = 162, (35%). The highest rate of the respondents was given advice about antibiotic use (n = 224, 48%) followed by physical exercises (n = 178, 39%) and healthy eating (n = 173, 37%). The majority of the respondents preferred to visit community pharmacy over other healthcare centers because of minor health problems (n = 358, 77%). The major factors influence the consumers choose any particular pharmacy were the professionalism of pharmacy staff (n = 254, 55%) and the availability of the medical products (n = 221, 48%). The respondents incline to choose community pharmacy as a primary health center when they faced drug related problem (n = 248, 54%). In conclusion, the current study revealed that the majority of Libyan people are regular users of community pharmacies and various services and topics of advice have been given by their staff. However, shortage of professional pharmacists in community pharmacies can undermine the opportunity of given reliable pharmaceutical care from these communications.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences