Engaging Private Pharmacies in Referring Tuberculosis Suspects in Pakistan: Findings and Implications

BackgroundWorld Health Organization (WHO) considers local pharmacies as an underused source that can contribute more effectively to the health care programs of the community. This study was aimed to evaluate the impact of involving private pharmacies for timely referral to facilitate TB case detection in Pakistan. MethodsIn this study, 398 pharmacies in five major districts of Pakistan were contacted. Patients having apparent TB symptoms or chronic cough for more than two weeks were referred for TB case detection to the nearby center of National TB Control Program (NTP). The patients were monitored and followed up to analyze the results of the diagnostic tests by involving pharmacy students. ResultsOut of 398 enrolled pharmacies, only 224 pharmacies (56.28%) were producing referrals. A total of 994 TB suspects were referred for tests out of which 839 (84.4%) actually appeared for the TB examination tests while 155 (15.5%) were missing. Of total 839 tested suspects, 189 (22.5%) were diagnosed with smear positive TB. ConclusionCommunity pharmacies under the thematic model of public private partnership can be the key players in tracing, preventing and early diagnosis of TB. This project can be extended and implemented in all provinces of Pakistan with more technical and financial inputs in the existing system in order to completely eradicate TB.