Topical administration of medications in the lungs

A survey has been carried out in Zimbabwe to gain information on pharmacist attitudes and current practice involving patient education in the use of medications for topical administration in the lung. The results of the survey indicated that although there was awareness of patient misuse of the administration devices, most pharmacists did not commonly demonstrate administration techniques to their patients; demonstrations when carried out were predominantly by hospital pharmacists. Few pharmacists were aware of the availability of placebo devices for patient education. Most pharmacists agreed, however, that they would become involved in patient instruction on administration techniques if placebo devices were made available to them. These placebo units, they felt, should be supplied free of charge by the manufacturing companies. Most pharmacists felt that, at present, their patients did not fully understand and were not practising correct administration techniques and therefore required tuition in these matters. The present survey was a pilot study for a larger survey to be carried out in Northern Ireland.