Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Attitudes and approaches towards COVID-19 management among the public and pharmacists in Northern Cyprus

Hüseyin Kerim Sakalli¹, Özgür Tosun², Dudu Özkum Yavuz^1,3 , Filiz Meriçli¹

¹Department of Phytotherapy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Near East University, Nicosia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; ²Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Near East University, Nicosia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; ³Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Near East University, Nicosia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

For correspondence:- Dudu Yavuz Email: dudu.ozkum@neu.edu.tr Tel:+905488557575

Accepted: 26 May 2022 Published: 30 June 2022

Citation: Sakalli HK, Tosun &, Yavuz D&, Meriçli F. Attitudes and approaches towards COVID-19 management among the public and pharmacists in Northern Cyprus. Trop J Pharm Res 2022; 21(6):1309-1316 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v21i6.25

© 2022 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To study the attitudes and approaches towards COVID-19 management among the public and pharmacists in Northern Cyprus.

Method: Questionnaire were administered face-to-face and online to volunteer pharmacists and other members of the public, after receiving approval from the Near East University Ethics Boards. Responses to the questionnaire were evaluated statistically.

Results: The pharmacists who quickly learned and adopted the necessary protection measures against COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic were young professionals under the age of 30 years who had less than 5 years of professional experience (p < 0.05). Most pharmacists who prepared magistral disinfectants/antiseptic solutions and lotions for irritation caused by excessive hand washing were aged above 60 years, with more than 30 years of professional experience (p < 0.05). The people who responded in the questionnaires asked for products derived from Echinacea, Sambucus nigra, propolis, ginger and Pelargonium sidoides to boost their immune system. Approximately 22.6 % of the respondents received COVID-19-related information from doctors, while 33.4 % got theirs from pharmacists. However, 6.7 % of the respondents got information from social media groups which they created (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Cooperation between pharmacists and health care organizations is increasingly crucial for public health, since there are still gaps in the successful control of COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it would be beneficial and even necessary to add a course on "management and solidarity in pandemics and other disasters" to the undergraduate education programs in pharmacy and all other healthcare disciplines.

Keywords: COVID-19, Northern Cyprus, Pharmacists’ attitude, Public approach, Herbal products