Knowledge, Attitude, Practice and Implementation of community pharmacists role in treating tuberculosis patients in south India Region

Background: Knowledge, attitude, practice and implementation of community pharmacist role in treating tuberculosis patients. Community Pharmacy education in India faces many challenges. An assessment of the challenges and opportunities of community pharmacist role in eradication of Tuberculosis in India has not been conducted.

Methods: This was a cross sectional study A one-day training was conducted in 6th may 2019 in Belagavi , Karnataka state, India. A selected sample of stake holders was invited experts Like Medical education expert in the field of tuberculosis, District Tuberculosis controller officer, Deputy Drugs controller, Assistant Drugs controller. The training Program was conducted by Dept. of Pharmacy Practice, KLE college of Pharmacy, Belagavi in association with District Tuberculosis center Belagavi and Regional office of Deputy Drugs Controller, Belagavi, India.

Results: A total of 60 community pharmacists are responded. The lowest number of correct answers were to the questions were Patients with active TB disease can infect people by talking (56.7%), TB is often spread from person to person through sex (53.3%), aware of Public Private mix (PPM) for Tuberculosis control and care (35%), Anti-TB drugs which are contraindicated in pregnancy (35%).

Conclusion: There are significant gap in knowledge, Attitude and practice on TB infection and control among community pharmacist. Proper training is essential to overcome the gap between community pharmacist and Government sector to eradicate TB by 2025 from India.