Pharmacists,
more than drug producer, is being a co-responsible for drug therapy
and promoter of the rational use of medicines, enhancing their role.
Appearance of a new philosophy, pharmaceutical care, came to organize,
enhance and allowing this new role of the pharmacist in primary
health care.
Objectives of the present study were to determine the existence
and to characterize the request for pharmaceutical care services
and to assess the wiliness to pay for these services in a privately
owned community pharmacy.
An interview following a check-list was used by researchers to gather
data.
In 236 interviewed customers, 88.1% did not know the term ‘pharmaceutical
care’, 67.2% showed to be interested on the service. Regarding the
wiliness to pay, 39.9% conditioned it to the amount, and 10.1% stated
that they would pay for the service.
This allows us to conclude than in this setting, a demand existed,
what allows repeating this survey in other settings, what lead us
to the necessity of defining a standard of practice in Brazil, and
in the rest of the world, to provide care to those who need it.
