Abstract
Community pharmacists' ethical challenges in promoting public health in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study
Khalid Orayj
King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia
APHA 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo
There is little doubt that pharmacies in general and community pharmacies in particular contribute significantly to promoting public health. However, a number of community pharmacy-related public health issues have important ethical ramifications, particularly in Islamic countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, such as the administration of contraception, weight-loss drugs, alcohol-containing pharmaceuticals, and other issues. The purpose of this study was to learn how community pharmacists see the ethical issues that can prevent them from carrying out their duty to advance public health. This investigation is a conventional content analysis. Throughout the course of 2020–2021, 20 community pharmacists from Riyadh, Asir, and Jazan participated in semistructured interviews. Using Graneheim and Lundman's conventional content analysis methodology, data were examined concurrently with data collection . The study was approved by King Khalid University's ethics committee in Saudi Arabia. Three main themes emerged from the investigation. The three main themes were: (1) the patient's belief that the pharmacist will reveal personal information about them (confidentiality); (2) the patient's belief that relying on the pharmacist will weaken their faith (religion); and (3) the patient's belief that the pharmacist's advice is meant to increase the pharmacist's income rather than be in the patient's best interest (beneficence). Community pharmacies should launch efforts that build public trust in them. Also, Islamic clerics must to consider what they may do to demonstrate that the pharmacist's recommendation doesn't conflict with religion; rather, it is mandated by it.
Ethics, professional and legal requirements Public health or related research Social and behavioral sciences