Assessment of Non-Sterile Pharmaceutical Compounding Practices in Selected Community and Hospital Pharmacies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess the practices of non-sterile pharmaceutical compounding in selected 42 community and 3 hospital pharmacies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 01 April, 2016 to 15 May, 2016. The study revealed that the most commonly prescribed and compounded non-sterile pharmaceutical formulations in both the community and hospital pharmacies were dermatological creams and ointments. The compounding personnel in 41 (97.6%) of the community and 2 of the hospital pharmacies were not familiar with the non-sterile pharmaceutical compounding laboratory standards developed by the Drug Administration and Control Authority (DACA) of Ethiopia in 2002. Standard operating procedures were not prepared in 41 (97.6%) of the community pharmacies and 1 of the hospital pharmacies. Sixteen (38.0%) of the community pharmacies had no compounding record at all and 26 (62.0%) of the community pharmacies had compounding records which only contained the names and the strengths of the compounded preparations. From the current study, it can be concluded that both the community and hospital pharmacies do not fulfill most of the standard requirements set by the regulatory authority. Hence, it is recommended that the standards for good compounding laboratories developed by the regulatory authority should be cascaded and popularized to professionals working in the community and hospital pharmacies and the non-sterile pharmaceutical compounding service have to be regulated and inspected strictly.

Keywords: community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, extemporaneous preparation, non-sterile pharmaceutical compounding, compounding standard