Self medication: a potentially avoidable cause of antibiotic misuse and resistance

Abstract

I read the article by Chawla S et al on buying patterns of drugs from pharmacies in Northern India with interest. Overall self medication was reported by close to one third (35.7%) study population. The results prompted me to write about burden of antibiotic self medication and measures to tackle this serious issue. Self medication with antibiotics is concern not only in India; several studies from different parts of world have shown antibiotics being misused and commonly consumed without prescription.