Let’s nip TB in the bud

• On average, 13 patients per day visit pharmacies in Vietnam to seek medical care for a cough. Yet, only 43% of pharmacy professionals were able to correctly identify common tuberculosis (TB) symptoms, which isn’t surprising as more than half reported they have not received TB-related training in recent years.
• Despite that, 82% report counseling clients about TB and 38% report referring presumptive clients.
• While these numbers may be worrying, they presented an opportunity. 500-backed digital healthcare platform SwipeRx collaborated with national TB programs and global health partners to use insights like these to engage and educate pharmacy professionals to end TB.
• In about 2.5 years, over 17,000 pharmacy professionals across multiple countries received TB education through accredited professional education courses rolled out on SwipeRx.
• A post-project evaluation revealed that those who went through the program are now more likely to appropriately refer and provide TB information and less likely to dispense cough medicine.
• Read the full report here.