EP032 - DISPENSING OF ANTIBIOTICS WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION IN GREECE, 2021. CAN NEW LEGISLATION ALTER OLD HABITS? (ID 1398)
Abstract
Backgrounds:
Antibiotic resistance is a crucial and emerging public health problem worldwide. Self-medication, a common practice for years in Greece, is an important driver of antimicrobial agents’ overuse and leads to an exacerbation of the problem. Recent legislature that forbids dispensing without a prescription aimed to address this problem. We sought to assess the extent of antibiotic dispensing in the community without medical prescription and compare to a prior 2008 study by Plachouras et al to assess the effectiveness of new legislation.
Methods
In this prospective observational study (December 2021-January 2022), antibiotics were requested without prescription from 110 community pharmacies proportionally assigned to the 5 regions of Athens, according to their population. Volunteers randomly selected which pharmacies to visit in each region and asked either for a box of ciprofloxacin 500mg or amoxicillin/clavunate 1gr (6:5 ratio). Ciprofloxacin requires an additional special prescription. Data on acquisition or dispensing refusal were collected, analyzed, and are presented as frequencies. Our results were compared to a prior 2008 study.
Results:
All (100%) of pharmacists refused to dispense ciprofloxacin. Only One of the pharmacies we visited dispensed amoxicillin/clavulanate. Comparing to an equivalent study performed in 2008, dispensing of amoxicillin/clavulanate from 100% in 2008 to 1% and ciprofloxacin from 53% in 2008 to 0%. Dispensing by region and by agent in 2008 and 2021 is shown in Table 1.
Conclusions/Learning Points:
Overall, it is evident that antibiotic dispensing without prescription has been dramatically reduced, as a result of new legislation being implemented in Greece. Similar initiatives could aid to battle Greece’s problem of antibiotic consumption and resistance.
