If community pharmacy advice and support are to be expanded, as suggested by Government, not only is greater evidence of benefit required, but there is a need for an increase in public awareness and acceptance of such services, since at present there appears to be little expectation or desire for weight-management services in pharmacies among the

general public we interviewed. The extent click here to which community pharmacy staff have opportunities for providing advice and support, through ad hoc encounters accompanying prescribed or purchased products or the use of equipment such as weighing scales, should be explored further. More importantly, the views of the general public on accessing weight-management services through pharmacies

requires further study. The Author(s) declare(s) that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in Ixazomib molecular weight the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. We are grateful to the community pharmacists who provided information and to the members of the general public who completed the interviews. “
“Objectives  To compare practice behaviour and attitudes of pharmacy personnel in the management of childhood diarrhoea between type I (requiring a pharmacist to be on duty) and type II (pharmacist not required) pharmacies, between those surveyed in 2008 and in 2001, and between new-generation (graduation ≤10 years) and old-generation (graduation >10 years) pharmacists. Methods  The setting was 115 pharmacies in

a city in the south of Thailand. The study was separated into two phases: a simulated client method to evaluate history taking, drug dispensing and advice giving among pharmacy personnel and a questionnaire to measure attitudes Bupivacaine and factors affecting diarrhoea treatment. Key findings  In the simulated client method study, questions asked and advice given by the providers (the pharmacists or non-pharmacists responding to the simulated clients), especially in type II pharmacies, were insufficient. Only 5.2% of pharmacies correctly dispensed for a child with viral diarrhoea, using oral rehydration salts (ORS) alone. Appropriate ORS dispensing of providers was not affected by shop type, survey time or peer generation. However, 52.2% of providers inappropriately dispensed antibiotics for such illness. In the questionnaire study, 108 completed surveys were obtained (a response rate of 93.9%). The providers working in 2008 more strongly agreed that ORS was effective, safe, used by health professionals and requested by patients, relative to those in 2001 (P < 0.05). No potential factor influencing the actual ORS dispensing was identified. Nevertheless, antibiotic dispensing was affected by beliefs in producing recovery and high profit. Conclusions  Practice and attitudes of pharmacy personnel were inappropriate in the management of childhood diarrhoea.