ArticleCost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E2020
The pharmaceutical practice of mask distribution by pharmacists in Taiwan's community pharmacies under the Mask Real-Name System, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Article in Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Community pharmacy transformation under universal health coverage: Implementation barriers, cultural determinants, and cross-national lessons from Japan's ongoing transition - A narrative review.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Review
- Challenges, Adaptive Measures, and Opportunities of Community Pharmacy Practice in the Philippines during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Acta medica Philippina · 2025Article
- The Perspectives of Community Pharmacists Toward the Name-Based Rationing System During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Spatial Analysis on Supply and Demand of Adult Surgical Masks in Taipei Metropolitan Areas in the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Vaccination distribution by community pharmacists under the COVID-19 vaccine appointment system in Taiwan.Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2021Article
- COVID the Catalyst for Evolving Professional Role Identity? A Scoping Review of Global Pharmacists' Roles and Services as a Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Analysis of COVID-19 prevention and treatment in Taiwan.BioMedicine · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPharmacists hold to their promise to foster, implement and promote the health of the population and to prevent disease, given their knowledge, skills, and proximity to the locals. The objective of this study was to foster equality and cost-effectiveness in the distribution and sale of masks to all Taiwanese citizens, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsAll 6336 special community pharmacies participating in the NHI (National Health Insurance) served as mask-selling sites. Access to masks by citizens was determined and controlled, based on the weekly rationing of the number of purchasable masks per citizen and the last digit of their NHI card number. Masks were available on different weekdays for holders of cards ending with odd and even numbers, except on Sundays, when everyone was eligible to buy a mask.
resultsImplementing the program has provided equal access to masks for all citizens across Taiwan. It has stabilized the pricing of masks and mitigated the public's anxiety of a perceived likely market shortage.
conclusionThe community pharmacy-based approach to the distribution of prevention face masks to citizens represents a new and innovative engagement of pharmacists in public health promotion and protection initiatives. Community pharmacies can greatly improve the efficiency, reliability, and cost-saving of the distribution of public health resources to local communities, especially in the face of an epidemic.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.