Browsing by Author "Rennie, Timothy W."

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    Creating clinical pharmacy capacity in Namibia:
    (Springer, 2020) Corkhill, Nicola L.; Lates, Jennie; Mubita, Mwangana; Kibuule, Dan; Jonkman, Lauren J.; Hachey, David; Hunter, Christian John; Bates, Ian; Rennie, Timothy W.
    Namibia has previously relied on external training of pharmacists but began in-country training in 2011. In response to an identifed need for postgraduate clinical pharmacy development and training in the country, a Master’s degree was set up at the University of Namibia in 2016. The country has a considerable health burden of HIV and TB as well as a shortage of healthcare professionals. A UK clinical diploma model was adapted to meet the specifc needs of the country and wider region, ensuring students could access the course over a sparsely populated, but large geographical spread, in addition to providing work-based learning, embedding research skills for future development, and focusing on the health needs of Namibia. The course uses online learning platforms and contact sessions to cover both knowledge and skill acquisition throughout the 3 years of the course. UK and US clinical pharmacists are utilised to provide specialist input, both remotely and within student workplaces, and further support has come from collaborations, including cross-site visits, with the UK-based pharmacy school whose diploma model was adapted. Challenges have included a shortage of clinical mentors, also compounding the students’ difculty in visualising their future roles, as well as lone practitioners fnding it hard to attend all contact sessions. The initial dropout rates of earlier cohorts have since reduced with greater understanding of the programme, and enthusiasm for the course remains high. The aim for the Master’s is to train students to become competent clinical pharmacists, thus having the knowledge and skills to mentor future cohorts of the course, as well as expanding the specialty within the country. Keywords Africa · Clinical pharmacy · Namibia · Postgraduate
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    Optimizing spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting in public healthcare setting in Namibia
    (Nordic Association, 2019) Adenuga, Babafunso A.; Kibuule, Dan; Rennie, Timothy W.
    Despite the universal scale-up of pharmacovigilance systems globally, adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting remains suboptimal among resource-limited countries. Few studies in sub-Saharan Africa evaluate the effectiveness of adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting programmes. A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire to assess ADR reporting knowledge, attitude and practices among healthcare workers in Namibia's public sector was conducted between September and December 2018. The primary outcome were practices, knowledge and attitude of the respondents towards ADR reporting. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis, respectively. Of the 197 healthcare workers surveyed, 43.1% were nurses, 63.4% of the respondents knew about the ADR reporting system in Namibia, 76.7% knew the pharmacovigilance/ADR reporting centre in Namibia, while 37.3% had reported an ADR before. Nurses were less likely to be knowledgeable and report ADRs. The independent predictor of ADR reporting was the nursing cadre; adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.17 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.401, P < .01). Pre- and in-service trainings including introduction of electronic reporting platforms were some of the identified ways of optimizing the pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting systems by the respondents. As pharmacovigilance in Namibia relies on spontaneous reporting of ADRs, there is a need for advocacy and workforce strengthening for ADR reporting in the public health sector.