ArticleBMJ open2022
Experiences of and response to the COVID-19 pandemic at private retail pharmacies in Kenya: a mixed-methods study.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identifying community pharmacists' preferences for attributes of public health interventions in Kenya: a discrete choice experiment.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- The good, the bad, and the ugly: Compliance of e-pharmacies serving India and Kenya with regulatory requirements and best practices.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Azithromycin Resistance Patterns in Escherichia coli and Shigella before and after COVID-19, Kenya.Emerging infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Understanding factors influencing home pregnancy test use among women in western Kenya: A qualitative analysis.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo assess experiences of and response to the COVID-19 pandemic at community pharmacies in Kenya. DESIGN, SETTING AND
participantsThis was a mixed-methods study conducted from November 2020 to April 2021, targeting service providers in three counties (Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu), selected purposively to represent the main urban centres; pharmacies were selected randomly from a list of licensed pharmacies.
resultsOf 195 sampled pharmacies, 108 (55%) completed a questionnaire and 103 (53%) received a simulated client call; 18 service providers were interviewed. The initial weeks of the pandemic were characterised by fear and panic among service providers and a surge in client flow. Subsequently, 65 (60%) of 108 pharmacies experienced a dip in demand to below prepandemic levels and 34 (31%) reported challenges with unavailability, high price and poor quality of products. Almost all pharmacies were actively providing preventive materials and therapies; educating clients on prevention measures; counselling anxious clients; and handling and referring suspect cases. Fifty-nine pharmacies (55% (95% CI 45% to 65%)) reported receiving a client asking for COVID-19 testing and a similar proportion stated they would support pharmacy-based testing if implemented. For treatment of simulated clients, most pharmacies (71%, 73 of 103) recommended alternative therapies and nutritional supplements such as vitamin C; the rest recommended conventional therapies such as antibiotics. While 52 (48%) of 108 pharmacies had at least one staff member trained on COVID-19, a general feeling of disconnection from the national programme prevailed.
conclusionsPrivate pharmacies in Kenya were actively contributing to the COVID-19 response, but more deliberate engagement, support and linkages are required. Notably, there is an urgent need to develop guidelines for pharmacy-based COVID-19 testing, a service that is clearly needed and which could greatly increase test coverage. Pharmacy-based COVID-19 programmes should be accompanied with implementation research to inform current and future pandemic responses.
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