Awareness of Veterinary Drug Retail Outlets on Antimicrobial Resistance and its Containment Strategy in Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2018 to assess the awareness of veterinary drug retail outlets on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and the availability of veterinary antimicrobials in these facilities. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using a structured questionnaire from a total of 108 retail outlets. The study revealed that there is a difficulty to treat infectious diseases of animals because of AMR which is reported by 70 (64.8%) of the respondents. 80.6% of the respondents believe that use of wrong antimicrobial is the possible cause of AMR and 79.6% use of counterfeit or poor quality antimicrobials, and 70.4% owners self-prescription of medicines for their animals. 59 (54.6%) of them also answered poor husbandry practices such as overcrowding, poor hygiene and sanitation, and poor feeding practice are the possible causes of AMR while 8 (7.4%) and 9 (8.3%) of the respondents do not know the reason for the AMR development and possible solutions for AMR containment, respectively. Only 24 (22.2%) of the dispensers have taken training on antimicrobial selection, use, resistance and resistance containment. Even though antimicrobials such as Oxytetracycline are available in around 90% of the retail outlets, only 70 (64.8%) of the retail outlets receive an average of 14 prescriptions (ranging from one to 200) per week from public and private clinics which shows a practice of antimicrobials dispensing without prescription. Therefore, strong mainstreaming strategies to prevent and control AMR should be developed and implemented. Antimicrobials prescription and dispensing practice should also be well regulated to avoid irrational prescription and dispensing practices.