Background: Managing minor ailments in community pharmacy is an evolving pharmacy service in developing countries. Defined scopes of practice for pharmacy staff are essential for the safe management of minor ailments. Limited research exists regarding the perceptions of Indonesian pharmacists' and pharmacy technicians' scopes of practice in providing minor ailments management services. Objective: To evaluate pharmacists' and pharmacy technicians' understanding of their scopes of practice, perceived competency and factors influencing the delivery of minor ailments services in Indonesian community pharmacies. Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were conducted during January-February 2020 of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians attending seminars conducted by relevant Indonesian Associations in Central Java, Indonesia. Percentage of common responses (PCR) described similarity of perceived scopes of practice for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified associations of scopes of practice with pharmacy characteristics. Results: A total of 185 pharmacists and 142 pharmacy technicians participated. Pharmacy technicians performed minor ailment consultations, however, if considered beyond their scope of practice, they referred the patient to the pharmacist (T=120/142, 84.5%). Vaginal thrush, bacterial conjunctivitis, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, and acute pain were minor ailments perceived only within a pharmacist's scope (PCR above 60%). Of 34 minor ailments, 11 showed PCR values between 40-60% overlapping pharmacists and pharmacy technicians perceived scopes of practice (allergy/rash, back pain, cold sores, dermatitis, diarrhoea, eczema, hayfever, haemorrhoids, rheumatism, sore throat, and superficial wounds). Back pain, cold sores, dermatitis, and sore throat associated pharmacists' scope of practice with years of practice experience (p-value<0.05). Pharmacy technicians perceived their scopes of practice to be wider than perceived by pharmacists. Conclusions: Discordance between pharmacists' and pharmacy technicians' perceived scopes of minor ailments management highlights the need for clearly defined scopes of practice for each professional group. Each professional group must practise within their competence to ensure safe pharmacy practices.

In the United Kingdom, until the 1990s, specialist practice of public health was dominated by the medical profession. During the past decade, the contributions to specialist public health practice of people from diverse disciplines have become recognized, respected and valued. In parallel to this paradigm shift in culture in the specialist workforce, recognition is growing of the importance to health improvement of the routine activities of people in other jobs, whose daily work can have a significant impact on population health. These people include public health practitioners, such as environmental health officials, but also others in a very wide range of occupations, from local government chief executive officers to catering assistants, who, although their actions can have a substantial influence on public health, would not traditionally have been viewed as part of the public health workforce. Transforming opportunities for training and professional development to meet the diverse needs of these different groups within the public health workforce for them to recognize and fulfil their potential for health improvement is an important challenge, if we are to achieve continuing improvements in public health. Presenting England's attempts to address the challenges of recruiting and training the range of people needed to deliver effective intersectoral public health may offer insights for those facing similar challenges in other countries.

Hasta los años noventa en el Reino Unido los especialistas de la salud pública pertenecían en su mayoría a la profesión médica. Durante el último decenio, sin embargo, se ha constatado un creciente reconocimiento, respeto y valoración de la labor desempeñada por expertos de otras disciplinas en ese campo. Paralelamente a ese cambio de paradigma, se observa también un creciente reconocimiento de la importancia que para la mejora de la salud tienen las actividades habituales de personas de otras profesiones, cuyo trabajo diario puede tener gran impacto en la salud de la población. Entre ellos se encuentran profesionales de la salud pública, como funcionarios de salud ambiental, pero también otras personas con muy diversas ocupaciones, desde directores generales de gobiernos locales hasta ayudantes de servicios de restauración, los cuales, pese a la gran influencia que puede tener su trabajo en la salud pública, no han sido considerados tradicionalmente como parte de la fuerza laboral que actúa en esa esfera. Transformar las oportunidades de formación y desarrollo profesional para atender las diversas necesidades de esos distintos grupos del personal de salud pública con miras a que reconozcan y lleven a la práctica sus posibilidades para mejorar la salud es un desafío importante que hay que afrontar si deseamos propiciar mejoras continuas de la salud pública. La presentación de las iniciativas emprendidas por Inglaterra a fin de superar los retos de la contratación y formación de todo el espectro de personal necesario para garantizar eficazmente la salud pública intersectorial puede servir para proporcionar algunas claves a quienes afrontan retos similares en otros países.

Au Royaume-Uni, jusque dans les années 90, les spécialistes en santé publique étaient surtout des médecins. Au cours de la dernière décennie, les contributions à la pratique de la santé publique de spécialistes appartenant à diverses disciplines ont été reconnues, respectées et appréciées. En parallèle à cette évolution du modèle de culture pour la main-d'œuvre spécialisée, on reconnaît de plus en plus l'importance, pour l'amélioration de la santé publique d'autres activités professionnelles pouvant quotidiennement avoir un impact conséquent sur cette santé. Il s'agit notamment de professionnels de la santé publique, comme les agents chargés de la santé environnementale, mais aussi d'une grande variété de professions, allant des chefs de gouvernement locaux aux employés de la restauration qui, malgré l'influence importante de leurs actions sur la santé publique, n'étaient traditionnellement pas considérés comme faisant partie de la main-d'œuvre au service de la santé publique. Pour améliorer constamment la santé publique, il importe d'exploiter les opportunités de formation et de développement professionnel pour répondre aux divers besoins des différentes catégories de main d'œuvre au service de la santé publique, en identifiant et en mettant en pratique leurs capacités à améliorer la santé. Présenter la tentative anglaise pour répondre aux problèmes de recrutement et de formation de l'éventail de personnes nécessaires pour délivrer des prestations intersectorielles de santé publique efficaces pourrait fournir des idées aux personnes confrontées à des problèmes similaires dans d'autres pays.