An-Najah Staff

Background and Objectives: With the global rise in the use of herbal ‎products; pressure is increasing on pharmacists to have more knowledge ‎about herbal medicine. We assessed pharmacists’ dispensing practices, ‎attitudes, and knowledge regarding herbal products. Methods: A cross ‎sectional study was carried out among community pharmacists in north ‎Palestine using a questionnaire. A convenience sample of 100 community ‎pharmacists was included in the study. The mean age of participants was ‎‎33±11 years. Results: Dispensing of herbal products was common. The ‎majority of participants (91%) believed that herbal products were ‎beneficial and 61% believed these had fewer side effects than ‎conventional medicines. Most participants thought they have good ‎knowledge of herbal preparations. However, their actual knowledge in ‎response to factual questionnaire was low. The lowest score was observed ‎for herbal drug interactions domain. Conclusions: Although herbal ‎products are commonly dispensed in Palestine, community pharmacists ‎have poor knowledge about these medicines. Continuing pharmacy ‎education in general is needed for community pharmacists to qualify ‎them to provide a better pharmaceutical care.