Background Pharmacists play an important role in the healthcare system and have a greater impact on the outcome of public health programs. Patients who seek nutrition and vitamin advice presume the role of community pharmacists including the recommendation of effective vitamin and nutritional products. Objective To determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of community pharmacists towards providing counseling on vitamins and nutritional supplements in Saudi Arabia. Setting All community pharmacies in all cities in Saudi Arabia. Methods A cross-sectional study methodology. The study was conducted between September 2019 and April 2020. Google survey was used to collect the samples from community pharmacists across Saudi Arabia. Main outcome measure Main outcome measure knowledge, attitudes, and practice of community pharmacists towards providing counseling on vitamins and nutritional supplements. Results A total of 1199 questionnaires were distributed electronically. Only 1041 were obtained to representing an 86.8% success rate. A significant majority of the respondents in this study were males (98.7%) and aged between 23–34 years (80.7%). Most of the community pharmacists in this study were non-Saudi residents 96.4%. Only 24.0% had certification from the Saudi National Board. Daily, the majority of the pharmacists attended to an estimated 100–200 patients 62.3% with only 22.7% attending to more than 200 customers per day. Most of the community pharmacists 86.4% have received a form of training on vitamins and nutritional supplements. Most of the community pharmacists counsel their patients about the side effects of vitamins and nutritional supplements. Conclusion Community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia have adequate knowledge and a positive attitude about vitamins and nutritional supplements. Our findings indicate that training courses are needed to improve pharmacists' communication skills to play more roles in counseling and enhancing their practice.

Objectives: Antibiotic usage has evolved over the years among the Arab population, and it has also gone under misuse resulting in the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Therefore, the current study aimed to address this issue by evaluating the level of knowledge and attitude of Arab population towards antibiotic usage and AMR to develop a pathway to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among Arab population, including 11 countries from the Middle East and North Africa. A validated and translated questionnaire, consisting of 34 questions, was adopted to achieve the study objectives. Two phases of data collection (online and offline) were performed, and SPSS was used for data analysis. Key findings: Three thousand three hundred and nineteen participants were successfully recruited, and the mean age was 37.6 ± 11.73. Approximately 63% of participants wrongly answered they should stop antibiotics when they feel better, and 73.3% of them thought antibiotics could treat cold and flu. Nearly half of the respondents indicated that they were uncertain of how antibiotic resistance affects the body (48.1%), and they were unaware if it could affect them or their families (63.1%). While the majority of the respondents were prescribed antibiotics by a doctor, over half of them were not given any advice on how to take them. Our data showed a significant relationship between respondents’ demographic data (e.g. country, age and education) and their knowledge and attitude. Conclusions: Participants had poor knowledge of antibiotics and AMR; thus, efforts are needed to conduct health campaigns in public places and create and implement programmes aiming to raise knowledge and awareness of people in the Arab regions. These could aid to curb the risk of antibiotic resistance and increase the chance of successful treatment for infectious diseases.

Objective: Medication prescription errors represent a significant and persistent challenge within healthcare systems globally, constituting a primary focus for clinical pharmacy practice. Additional complexities involve the optimization of drug dosing and the implementation of personalized medicine. This review aims to synthesize the current advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) applications within clinical pharmacy and to discuss future directions for the field. Methods: To present this narration, 30 articles were reviewed in total. The literature search was done using electronic databases, for example, PubMed, Medline, and Google Scholar, with the help of some keywords. Only articles published in peer-reviewed journals were included. Results: A total of 30 articles that demonstrated the utility of AI-based applications in clinical pharmacy were included for further analysis. Across all included studies, AI was utilized primarily for the detection of adverse drug events, clinical decision support, verification of prescription accuracy, and pharmacometrics. Secondary applications included providing recommendations to pharmacists for medication therapy management and, importantly, predicting the therapeutic response to a given treatment in conjunction with its cost-effectiveness. Conclusion: Artificial intelligence-based algorithms have been identified as applicable tools for the early detection of adverse drug events and prescription errors, the prediction of individual drug response, and the design of patient-specific treatment plans. Prior to broad clinical implementation, future multicenter, prospective studies employing standardized clinical endpoints, external validation, and cost-effectiveness analyses are required.

Background: As the coronavirus disease pandemic continues to severely strain healthcare systems across the globe, there is need to determine whether every facet of the healthcare system is ready to respond. Purpose of the Study: The study investigated whether community pharmacists in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are ready to play a supportive role in the fight against COVID-19. Methods: The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional survey. A descriptive analysis to capture the demographic characteristics of the sampled population, frequency tables and graphs were generated to capture community pharmacists’ practice, readiness, attitudes and awareness. The means of the subset of knowledge on COVID-19 etiology, prognosis and management, and the practice, attitudes were compared in a one way analysis of variance to determine whether the difference was significant to predict preparedness towards playing a supportive role in the fight against COVID-19. Results: The practice of community pharmacist as reflected adherence to recommended guidelines by the ministry of health on COVID-19 management and control. About 74% always disinfected contact surfaces, 69% conducted basic temperature checks on staff members and customers. Community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia displayed positive attitudes towards fight against COVID-19 [m = 4.08 and a relatively narrow difference in percentage distribution between those who were not sure and those who claimed to be very satisfied 20%]. Community pharmacists in KSA displayed extensive knowledge on the subject of COVID-19 as all respondents were aware of the primary symptoms of COVID-19 (100%), 62% were aware of COVID-19 management strategies, 81% believed information supplied through the ministry was sufficient. A p value of 0.00 indicated that the results were significant to support the assumption that community pharmacists in KSA were prepared to play a supportive role in the fight against COVID-19. Conclusion: The result demonstrated readiness among Saudi Arabian community pharmacists to be integrated into COVID-19 pandemic planning and response.

Globally, adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are the foremost cause of morbidity as well as mortality. This necessitates a system of surveillance that can effectively and efficiently monitor the effect of drugs on the general population. The role of pharmacovigilance (PV) is paramount in ensuring drug safety through spontaneous ADR reporting. Data collection in the current research was carried out by an anonymous, online 36-item self-report questionnaire amongst a sample of 351 working healthcare professionals (HCPs) across different regions of Jazan Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The current sample comprised 54.4% males and 45.6% females, having an age range of 26–57 years, and was conducted between August 21 and October 21, 2022. Participants were recruited using the convenience snowball sampling technique. The participants' awareness of PV as well as spontaneous ADR reporting, had a significant association with having <40 years of age (χ² = 27.40; p < 0.001), being pharmacists (χ² = 212.20; p < 0.001), with more than five years of experience (χ² = 40.80; p < 0.001), having Masters (or) Doctorate/Fellowship (χ² = 171.94; p < 0.001), and having their practice located in an urban area (χ² = 50.30; p < 0.001). It was also observed that most participants with excellent awareness of PV and spontaneous ADR reporting also demonstrated excellent attitudes (χ² = 147.70; p < 0.001). Similarly, it was also seen that almost all (97%) of the study sample with excellent attitudes towards PV and spontaneous ADR reporting also demonstrated excellent practices (χ² = 250.73; p < 0.001). Our results demonstrate a need for designing and conducting educational programs, providing training and conducting workshops for all the HCPs to improve their awareness towards PV and spontaneous ADR reporting while also highlighting the need and importance of having positive attitudes towards spontaneous ADR reporting. Cooperation between different HCPs should be encouraged to improve their practices towards spontaneous ADR reporting.