DISPENSING OF MEDICATION WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Rational informed self-medication is an essential part of any health care system. This study was conducted to determine the drugs which dispensed without prescription and the nature and extent of self-medication purchases at community pharmacies in Karachi. The data were collected and recorded for different community pharmacies operating for 24 hours, or different timing schedule using a specially designed survey form. Out of the 50 pharmacy surveyed, most of the pharmacies dispensed the drugs without prescription. There were drugs which should be dispensed without prescription including antibiotic, anti-allergic, Analgesics/antipyretics and dermatological drugs. The study findings indicate the need to enforce the regulations governing the sale of drugs and the specification of drugs to be sold using prescription as well as to improve community pharmacy practice, to check the magnitude of self-medication, to check the sale of non-prescribed medicine per day and also examine which class of antibiotic or drug dispensed irrationally. The study also revealed the knowledge of the staff working and the person or pharmacist adherence to regulations.