Pharmacists’ awareness and practices regarding counterfeit medicines in Aksum, Ethiopia

Abstract Background Pharmacists’ awareness is required to combat the distribution of counterfeit medicines. This is due to, the ultimate goal of treatment outcome might be compromised by the availability of counterfeit medicines, which could have serious consequences of public health. The study was aimed to assess pharmacies’ awareness and practices regarding counterfeit medicines in Aksum, Ethiopia. Methods The study was conducted using cross sectional study design between July and August, 2021. A structured data collection tool was used for data collection. Data were analyzed with the help of SPSS Version 23.0. Results More than 56% of the respondents had direct experience of drug counterfeiting, and 51.2% of the them didn’t know counterfeit medication reporting system. About 58.5% of the respondents didn’t take any special training on identifying counterfeit drugs. Most of the respondents (73.2%) thought that the current law and regulations of drug counterfeiting are not enough. Approximately 44% of the participants said that expiry date and packaging of the drug are the main distinguishing features of counterfeit medicines. Conclusion The most important finding in this study was the pharmacists direct experience of counterfeit medicines, and there is a poor enforcement of law and regulations system in Aksum, Ethiopia. The results point out the need for strengthening the legislation, on regulations system and implementing awareness creation training for pharmacists.