Importance of storing medicines on required temperature in pharmacies and role of community pharmacies in rural areas: Literature review

Medicines are the crucial tools to control and prevent various diseases. Ineffective medicines can cause wastage of resources. The efficacy of medicines gets affected due to improper storage conditions particularly the improper temperature. The objective of this review was to synthesize the findings regarding the storage of medicines on required temperature in Pharmacies and the role of community pharmacies, particularly in rural areas. An extensive literature review was carried by retrieving articles from various databases like Pub med, Google scholar and Science Direct and by using terms like \u27temperature\u27, \u27pharmacy \u27, \u27medicines\u27 and \u27storage\u27. Types of studies were descriptive studies, systematic reviews, and various WHO reports. Normal storage conditions mean storage in dry, well-ventilated place at temperatures of 15–25 °C or, depending on climatic conditions and properties of the drug; it might go up to 30oC. Furthermore, uninterrupted cold chain maintenance is required from the manufacturer till the dispensing of the medicines. Temperature monitoring devices must be used, in order to ensure the appropriate temperature of the medicines during transportation from one to another place. Medicinal products require appropriate storage conditions in order to ensure the quality and efficacy of medicines. Improper storage can increase the unnecessary burden on the economy of general population due to their poor efficacy. Strong monitoring of storage conditions is required to ensure storage practices in community pharmacies. Furthermore, ongoing training should be arranged for pharmacy owners to teach them about standard storage practices, particularly in rural areas