Syndromic management of urethral discharge in Ghanaian pharmacies

Objectives: To evaluate the training of pharmacists in Accra, Ghana, in the syndromic management of STIs. Methods: We randomly selected 50 pharmacy outlets that had received the tra ining (intervention) and 50 outlets that had not received thr training (no intervention). Simulated clients described the symptoms of urethral dischar ge to the first pharmacy staff encountered and completed a standardised que stionnaire after each encounter. Results: Correct drug provision for urethral discharge improved with the ed ucational intervention but remained relatively low (no intervention 18%; in tervention 39%; p <0.05). More encouraging, treatment for gonorrhoea was us ually correct without the intervention (64%) and improved further in the in tervention outlets (76%). The treatment for chlamydia was less often approp riate but also improved (31% and 31%). Condom promotion was poor, with almo st no outlets offering condoms. Conclusions: The current training led to improvements in the treatment of u rethral discharge. Future training needs to be improved, especially with re gard to condom promotion. Moreover, since less than one third of simulated clients were seen by pharmacists, the training should be expanded to other pharmacy staff. With enhanced training of all pharmacy staff, the role of p harmacy outlets in STI management and prevention in Ghana and elsewhere can be optimised.