Perceptions, attitudes and experiences of hospital pharmacists working in the private sector regarding drug shortage in Lebanon: a national cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Our objective was to assess the perception, attitudes, and experiences of Lebanese hospital pharmacists in everyday practice regarding the drug shortage as well as to identify challenges and propose solutions.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between February and June 2021, enrolling 36 Lebanese hospital pharmacists.

Results: The economic crisis and issues with the quality of medicines were ranked as the top two causes of drug shortages in Lebanese hospitals; 88.9% of hospital pharmacists thought that switching to lower doses and using alternatives (97.2%) can be considered viable solutions. To address the issue of drug shortages, efforts made by manufacturers were 36.1%; the availability of alternative drugs in hospitals was 63.9%. All classes of drugs were shorted in hospitals. Hospital pharmacists spent less than 5 h/day to track medicine shortages (44.5%), identifying alternatives (97.3%), purchasing alternatives (91.7%), deliberating with physicians (91.7%). Pharamcists approached 'the parallel import' approach (75%) and contacted other hospitals (52.8%) to insure medicines alternatives.

Discussion: Drug shortages in Lebanon are driven by various factors and have been increasing across governorates. Public health is the most impacted, especially for patients requiring intensive care, which consequently affects their quality of life.