Private pharmacy staff in five main towns in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali: knowledge and practices concerning malaria care in 2014

The Global Fund's involvement in the fight against malaria has led to significant improvements, but mostly through programs supporting public-sector health facilities and personnel. The authors report the results of the preliminary survey preceding their intervention with private pharmacies. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the sample of pharmacies in urban areas in Burkina Faso, Benin, and Mali. A pretested questionnaire was administered to the supervisor present in each pharmacy at the time of the survey. Data were collected by local students in the first quarter of 2014. In all, 94 pharmacies were surveyed, representing 17.6% of all the pharmacies in these 5 cities. Among the participants, 84% knew about the national malaria control program, and 77.7% about artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), while 38.8% knew the national protocols. Licensed pharmacists had a better knowledge of ACT than their assistants, and training improved knowledge of treatment for uncomplicated malaria episodes. These pharmacists and assistants would like to be more involved in the fight against malaria. They are ready to advise ACT when appropriate after rapid detection tests. It is necessary to find resources for subsidized inputs in the private sector to make these drugs and tests more accessible for all patients.