EVALUATION OF PHARMACISTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES REGARDING RARE DISEASES AND ORPHAN DRUGS

Abstract

Rare diseases (RD) are very heterogenic group of disorders affecting less than 5 out of 10.000 people in the European Union (EU), at the same time putting them in danger or disabling them chronically. It is estimated that only in Serbia almost half a million people suffer from some RD. In spite of rarity, they represent an important medical and social problem. The aims of this pilot project were to evaluate the pharmacists` general knowledge and specific knowledge regarding RD, regulatory requirements and availability of drugs for the RD in the Republic of Serbia as well as pharmacists` attitudes and understanding of the health public importance of RD and drugs` availability. The prospective cross- sectional KAP study was conducted during 2012, on a convenient sample of the community pharmacists from the territory of the Niš branch of Pharmaceutical Chamber of Serbia. The questionnaire was fully completed by 139 pharmacists; 89.2% were females with mean age of 43.4±9.1 years. More than half of the respondents (66.9%) knew that there was no Register of RD in Serbia, but did not know the estimated percentage of the EU population suffering and the prevalence of RD (67%, 51.8%, respectively). Insufficient information about the problem points to insecurity in basic epidemiology and regulatory knowledge. The majority of the respondents supported the establishment of the regulatory instruments for the promotion of the research and development of the orphan drugs for RD.

Keywords

• rare diseases
• orphan drugs
• regulation
• pharmacists
• KAP survey