Objectives: The Nigerian health sector battles with control of infectious diseases and emerging non-communicable\ndiseases. Number of healthcare personnel involved in public health programs need to be boosted to contain the\nhealth challenges of the country. Therefore, it is important to assess whether community pharmacists in Nigeria\ncould be engaged in the promotion and delivery of various public health interventions. This study aimed to assess\nlevel of knowledge, attitude and practice of public health by community pharmacists.\nMethods: The cross sectional survey was carried out in Enugu metropolis. Questionnaire items were developed\nfrom expert literature. Percentage satisfactory knowledge and practice were obtained by determining the\npercentage of community pharmacists that were able to list more than 2 activities or that stated the correct\nanswer. Attitude score represents the average score on the 5 point Likert scale for each item. Chi square and\nFisherââ?¬â?¢s exact test were used to test for statistically significant difference in knowledge, attitude and practice of\npublic health between different groups of community pharmacists.\nResults: Forty pharmacists participated in the survey. About one third of the participants had satisfactory\nknowledge of public health. With the exception of one item in attitude assessment, average item score ranged\nfrom ââ?¬Ë?agreedââ?¬â?¢ to ââ?¬Ë?strongly agreedââ?¬â?¢. Study participants scored below satisfactory on practice of public health.\nKnowledge, attitude and practice of public health were not influenced by years of practice, qualification and prior\npublic health experience. Reported barriers to the practice of public health include inadequate funds, lack of time,\nlack of space, cooperation of clients, inadequate staff, government regulation, insufficient knowledge, and\nremuneration.\nConclusions: Level of knowledge and practice of public health by community pharmacists were not satisfactory\nalthough they had a positive attitude towards practice of public health. The findings highlight the importance of\neducational interventions targeted towards practicing community pharmacists to improve their knowledge level on\npublic health issues. Providing incentives for public health services rendered could increase community\npharmacistsââ?¬â?¢ engagement in public health activities.
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