The antibiotic law, through which the authorities tried to stop the consumption of these drugs by the ear, is making its first effects felt. The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, stated that Romanians no longer buy and use them in such large quantities.
Romania, champion in self-medication. Photo source: archive
The regulations introduced regarding the prescription and release of antibiotics are starting to give results, said the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila.
“The consumption of antibiotics is starting to decrease”he specified.
The official wanted to remind that the right to use such drugs was not prohibited. Next, antibiotics are prescribed in case of bacterial infections and only by a doctor. However, it was desired to reduce infections caused by multiresistant bacteria. “It's starting to give very good results, it's starting to decrease the use of antibiotics. I want to make a clarification, I think that people were not well informed or were misinformed, rather: there is no prohibition of the right to use antibiotics, but antibiotics must be used when necessary, in the necessary quantities, only with a doctor's prescription . And in fact that's what we did, it happens absolutely in the whole civilized world, where multi-resistant bacteria are much less than here. We expect that, with this measure, we will see in the coming years, not very many, a change in this public health problem, the infections caused by multiresistant bacteria, which unfortunately produce a lot of victims“, Minister Rafila declared.
How can we buy antibiotics without a prescription. The exception that proves the rule
In the context in which our country occupies the 1st place in Europe in the consumption of antibiotics because Romanians often take them like candy, the Ministry of Health came up with a law that tried to stop the phenomenon. Specifically, in January of this year, the authorities issued an order that provides the following: drugs in the category of antibiotics and antifungals for systemic use prescribed by doctors on prescriptions, other than free and compensated prescriptions, will be issued at the pharmacy only on the basis of a medical prescriptions. Prescriptions will be retained in the pharmacy. Moreover, the order stipulates that if needed, in case of emergency, antibiotics can be released fractionally and only within the same pharmacy, without exceeding the total amount prescribed. In order to receive antibiotics without a prescription, the patient will have to meet several conditions. First, it must have real urgency. Example: He has a tooth abscess and cannot go to the doctor immediately. Then, these antibiotics are given only for three days of treatment. After these three days, the patient must go to a specialist. It should also be known that the pharmacist has a list of only certain antibiotics available. Therefore, it cannot prescribe anything. Last but not least, the patient will have to fill in a declaration on his own responsibility from which it can be seen that he has not bought from other pharmacies.
Antibiotics taken behind the ear come with great risks
Dr. Emilian Popovici, the vice-president of the Romanian Society of Epidemiology, told “Adevărul” that antibiotics have, like other drugs, a lot of adverse effects. “In case of administration of inappropriate doses, not coordinated by the doctor, these adverse effects can be among the most serious. It is the first risk we are subject to if we follow the ear. For example, some antibiotics can lead to anaphylactic shock, liver toxicity or kidney toxicity.”
Then, the specialist explains, it is also about the type of antibiotic we administer. Some could interfere with other pathologies we suffer from and could do us more harm than good. “The doctor prescribes the treatment according to the medical history of each patient and chooses the most suitable medication. Because a drug that works perfectly in the case of a certain patient could have adverse effects in the case of another patient”, the specialist also specified.
Another extremely high risk is the body's resistance to antibiotics. “Things are simple. Bacteria that escape this conflict with the antibiotic pass their resistance genes on to each other. In this way, multiresistance occurs. But this happens over time. The immediate danger is that of adverse effects”.
Doctors' recommendations
Epidemiologist Emilian Popovici gave us a set of recommendations that we should follow to prevent the body's resistance to antibiotics.
Maintain hand hygiene! Hygiene prevents digestive infections and, thus, the use of antibiotics used in the treatment of these infections is not reached.
Immunize yourself with the pneumococcal vaccine! Pneumococcal vaccination prevents pneumococcal pneumonia, meningococcal vaccination prevents specific infection caused by meningococcus. Therefore, because these diseases will no longer manifest clinically, antibiotic administration will not be necessary.
Administer your antibiotic treatments correctly, following exactly the periods and doses recommended by the doctor.
Avoid taking antibiotics where they have no purpose: viral infections, flu, viruses.
Follow the antibiotic therapy only on the doctor's recommendation and preferably, after the antibiogram that facilitates targeted antibiotic therapy after which the risk of developing antibiotic resistance is the lowest.
The Minister of Health also stated that an exact estimate of the current consumption of antibiotics will only be available at the end of the year. However, he hopes that Romania will leave the top 3 in the European Union in terms of the amount of such drugs used by the population.
