Antibiotic use in the City: A Pharmacy Survey about 150 Cases

In 15 years, global antibiotic use has increased by 65%. It has been exponentially spiked in low and middle-income countries. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is now one of the most serious threats to global health. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its action plan against antibiotic resistance and encouraged each state to develop its own national action plan. The survey conducted at the counter of a pharmacy in Rabat was based on the interview of patients using a questionnaire. It aimed to describe the practices of patients in terms of antibiotic consumption in the city. Our descriptive study involved 150 cases. It included any patient wishing to obtain one or more antibiotics either by medical prescription, officinal medication, or self-medication. As expected, the beta-lactam family represented the most consumed family by 28%. In terms of the assessment of the modality of antibiotic consumption, 57.33% of the antibiotics dispensed were dispensed by medical prescription, 37.33% by self-medication and only 5.33% of the antibiotics consumed by the study population were dispensed by officinal medication. To improve the use of antibiotics, it is important to stress the importance of compliance with the recommendations relating to the prescription and delivering of antibiotics, and in this sense the contribution of the pharmacist is crucial.