Emerging Roles of Malaysian Pharmacists in Asthma Management Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

The need for social distancing, healthcare reserves reallocation, and scarce personal protective equipment has promote increased telemedicine uptake for patients asthma control and monitoring. Poorly controlled asthma brings with it negative socioeconomic impacts due to productivity losses in the event of missed work and school days (3). A local survey found that the cost of acute asthma management associated with hospital admission was more than ten times the cost of maintenance management in a suburban public hospital (4). The current pandemic opens up opportunities for pharmacists to strengthen their roles and venture into new areas for service expansion. [...]in this review article, we discuss the transitional roles of pharmacists in the management of asthma pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic.