Government urged to ban over-the-counter sale of antibiotics

To ensure patient safety and minimise the emergence of drug-resistant microbial infections and diseases, Pakistan Army Surgeon General Lt General Zahid Hamid has urged the government to immediately ban the over-the-counter (OTC) sale of antibiotics without a valid doctor’s prescription.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 2nd International Conference on Patient Safety (ICPS) at Aga Khan University Hospital on Sunday, Lt General Hamid said that with the excessive use of antibiotics in several sectors, the world is fast approaching a post-antibiotic era where even a small cut could lead to death because microorganisms have grown resistant to traditional antibiotics.

These resistant microorganisms dubbed superbugs are a growing threat worldwide. In February, the World Health Organisation issued a list of the most deadly superbugs for the first time making a case for the pharmaceutical industry to develop new and more potent antibiotics.

“I would demand regulatory authorities to immediately put a ban on over-the-counter sale and without prescription availability of antibiotics to prevent the emergence of drug-resistant microorganisms,” Hamid said.

The conference was organised by Riphah International University, Islamabad. Hundreds of national and international experts, chiefs of various regulatory bodies, government functionaries, medical directors of the country’s leading hospitals, pharmaceutical sector representatives, academicians, doctors, paramedics and patients were in attendance.

Lauding the Punjab Healthcare Commission for its efforts to improve service delivery at the province’s medical facilities, Lt General Hamid said other provinces should learn from the efforts being made by the commission.

He said the Pakistan Army Medical Corps and Punjab Healthcare Commission will soon be signing an MoU for training and capacity building of the commission’s staff to improve service delivery at public hospitals.

“This initiative would definitely benefit the people”, he said, adding that the corps was open to signing such MoUs with other provinces’ health bodies. According to the surgeon general, the leading causes of deaths at hospitals worldwide were medication errors, and other mistakes and omissions made during treatment.

Pointing out that healthcare services in the private sector were becoming unaffordable by the day and were being provided as charity in the public sector, he called for a change in culture of service delivery and healthcare provision in both sectors.

Federal Health Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch said that after the devolution of power, healthcare service delivery has become the responsibility of the provincial governments and they should improve the condition of their facilities to ensure patients do not contract diseases there.

He offered the federal government’s support to the provinces to improve facilities and called for implementation of laws regarding patient safety and ensuring quality of healthcare provided.

Baloch also said that the federal cabinet had recently approved the rules for medical devices after a recent controversy regarding coronary stents. He added that all the federal regulatory authorities including Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), Pakistan Nursing Council and others were doing their job to ensure patient safety within their spheres.

Professor Dr Shabbir Ahmed Lehri, the President of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) said that the council was taking every step possible to ensure that the quality of health education in the country improves because without it, patient safety and safeguarding their interests cannot be ensured.

Renowned patient safety expert Dr Paul Barach of the Wayne State University, US called for the formation of a national patient safety foundation and the passage of legislation to ensure patients get their rights and anyone harming a patient due to medical negligence is held accountable.