Abstract

REASONS TO EXPLORE PHARMACIST’S ATTITUDE IN DISPENSING ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION DURING RAMADAN IN KARACHI

Sadia S. Kashif1*, Sadaf Naeem, Maqsood Ahmed Khan, Nausheen A. Sarosh, Zaib Un Nisa and Tanzeela Mujahid

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Antimicrobials have saved millions of lives from life threatening infections, but these agents nowadays lose their effectiveness because of resistance due to their irrational or non-indicated use or use of antibiotics without micro-organism susceptibility test. These drugs disturb person’s normal flora and put person at the risk of getting super infections, and produce detrimental effects on the health. There are many factors that contribute to irrational use of antibiotics and one of prominent factor is dispensing of antibiotics without prescription. Pharmacists dispense antibiotics due to many reasons, which has explored in this study. Materials & Methods: This was a questionnaire based survey study. The study was conducted for the period from to May to June 2017 during Ramadan in Karachi, Pakistan. Result: Every participant participated in the study have different perception regarding antibiotic dispensation without prescription but the most prominent is the lack of monitoring in dispensing practice by regulatory authorities. Conclusion: From the collected data taken during Ramadan, it was found that the intake of prescribed drug doses is not easy during Ramadan and its adjustment is often irrational according to the life rhythm of Ramadan. There may be a possibility of drug interaction if a patient should take more than one drug. In majority of cases, patients arbitrarily change the intake time and frequency without medical advice. This can alter the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic aspects of drugs and consequently alter their efficacy and tolerance.

Keywords: Antibiotics, dispensing, rational drug use, self-medication.