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In a move to address the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the Director-General of Health Services (DGHS) has urged all pharmacists to dispense antibiotics only on the prescription of a qualified doctor, hence limiting over-the-counter sales (OTC).
In a letter addressing all pharmacy associations in India, DGHS Atul Goel appealed to all pharmacists to strictly implement Schedules H and H1 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, with regards to selling antibiotics.
Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, antibiotics are included in the list of drugs specified under Schedule H, which are required to be sold by retail on the prescription of a Registered Medical Professional (RMP) only.
The Schedule H1 drugs are mainly allocated to restrict the selling of antibiotics through OTC sales, after it was noted that any number of these drugs could be bought from pharmacies across India without any limitations.
Schedule H1 includes high-end drugs such as third- and fourth-generation antibiotics, anti-tuberculosis drugs, and certain psychotropic drugs.
Calling bacterial AMR one of the top global health threats, Goel said that the disease is estimated to be directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths, while 4.95 million deaths were associated with drug-resistant infections in 2019.
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“AMR threatens the effective prevention and treatment of infections caused by resistant microbes, resulting in prolonged illness and greater risk of death,” the letter stated.
Goel added that misuse and overuse of antimicrobials are one of the main drivers in the development of drug-resistant pathogens. “Such treatment failures also lead to longer periods of infectivity, and the prohibitive high cost of the second-line drugs may result in failure to treat these diseases in many individuals,” Goel stated in the letter to pharmacists.
