Pharmacy engagement in TB prevention and care: not if, but how?
Most individuals with TB seek initial care at the level of primary care, and community pharmacies are a common first point of contact for people with symptoms suggestive of TB such as long-lasting cough and fever, making them well-placed to find people with TB in high-burden settings.
Evidence suggests that engaging private providers can contribute to quality TB care, improve TB diagnosis, and expand case detection at roughly the same cost as the public sector. As pharmacies are often the first point of access to care, the question of whether pharmacies should be engaged in identifying people with TB is a rhetorical one. The dialogue must shift towards how to engage pharmacies more effectively and address the bottlenecks. Here, we propose three priority actions that should be taken, especially in high-burden settings:
- ACCESS TO CLEAR AND CONCISE PHARMACYSPECIFIC GUIDANCE, BACKED BY NATIONAL OR REGIONAL PHARMACY ASSOCIATIONS, FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF PEOPLE PRESENTING WITH COUGH
- ESTABLISHMENT OF STRUCTURED MECHANISMS FOR PHARMACIES TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WITH PRESUMPTIVE TB
- USE OF ADVANCEMENTS IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE THE LINKAGE BETWEEN PHARMACIES AND TB PROGRAMS AND SURVEILLANCE
Are you interested in using the infographic in your EndTB work?
As part of the dissemination process, we encourage country partners to tailor the infographic to best meet the needs of pharmacies in your country to ensure that the message gets across effectively. Supporting materials, such as national TB guidelines, the contact information of local TB officers, etc could be included in the dissemination.
If you would like your organization’s logo, national TB program logo, national pharmaceutical association, and any others to be added to this TB Pharmacy Infographic, please contact us: [email protected]. We can support the design and update for the finalized infographic with those logos to be shared across your network. Please do let us know if you would require formal letters from our end to any authorities or organizations. If the infographic needs to be translated, we would be happy to ensure that it meets this expectation, and if you know of any connections within your network, we would love to get in connect with them and have those changes made.