A new law, in line with World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines, is being drafted to prevent selling antibiotics without a prescription signed by a physician. And there’s a good reason for that!
Self-medication with antibiotics is a common practice and is one of the reasons for the increase in the antibiotic resistance.
In order to rationalise the use and avoid risks from misuse, you will soon be unable to buy your dose of antibiotics in your community pharmacy without a prescription.
Dr Amin Hussein Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary for public policy and licensing at the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) said that overuse of antibiotics contributes to bacterial resistance to antibiotics, caused by changes that occur in the bacteria and render antibiotics less effective, and this is a current major threat to public health.
Reports indicate that 700,000 people die annually worldwide, for this reason:
Al Amiri also said that global reports have shown that between 50 and 80 percent of germs have developed strong resistance to antibiotics, leading to the deterioration of the immune system.
This prolongs the duration of the disease and makes treatment more difficult, consequently increasing the risk for complications that can lead to death.
He pointed out that the new draft of the federal law aims to regulate and strictly monitor that all pharmacies abide by the rules and local regulations.
The Ministry and the local health authorities will intensify the supervision and inspection of pharmacies, covering around 2400 private pharmacies.