Exploring Australian Pharmacists' Perceptions And Attitudes Towards Dispensing Hiv Medicines In The Community Setting

Background Involving community pharmacists in the provision of care to people living with HIV has the potential to improve health outcomes.Aim To explore community pharmacists' perceptions and attitudes regarding the supply of HIV medicines following the Australian Government's decision to list antiretroviral drugs (ARTs) on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in 2016.Methods A purposive sample of community pharmacists around Australia was invited to participate in an anonymous, online questionnaire that collected demographic information, and pharmacists' perceptions and attitudes towards dispensing and counselling HIV antiretroviral medicines.Results Of the 91 participants, the majority had not dispensed an HIV medicine. Most participants reported feeling comfortable when counselling people living with HIV about their medicines. However, most reported a lack of confidence in knowledge of HIV and HIV medicines, and a lack of confidence in counselling these patients about their medicines and managing the complex issues they experience. There was a statistically significant difference in genders with females reporting less confidence compared with males. Unsurprisingly, confidence in knowledge of HIV and HIV medicines was associated with confidence in counselling people living with HIV.Conclusion Increased accessibility to HIV antiretroviral medicines through community pharmacies for Australians living with HIV has potentially improved patient health outcomes. However, community pharmacists need to be both confident and comfortable in talking to these patients. This study has identified that Australian community pharmacists would benefit from continuing professional education on this topic. These findings could also be relevant for improving outcomes of patients taking other high-cost drugs.