A research conducted by VIN in 2018 has found that knowledge and practice of use of antibiotic are low among the people of Kavresthali. General people have misbelief of use of antibiotic and pharmacist are giving medicine inappropriately. Therefore, we initiated and implemented a project to restrain this alarming phenomenon.
The project is aimed to aware people about antibiotic knowledge and practice through awareness of antibiotic resistance, and providing proper practical guidance. We made posters with key messages and used them to make presentations to patients, pharmacy workers, and health post workers. We made 2 versions in English and in Nepali.
Local people- 200 people are aware
What is antibiotic?
Antibiotic is a kind of medication used to kill only bacteria and thus used to treat only bacterial infection. Do not take antibiotics to treat cancer, headache, pain, and diarrhea, etc.
The consequence of misusing and overusing antibiotic:
Misusing or overusing antibiotic, patients are likely to face antibiotic’s side effects, including vomiting, diarrhea, allergic reaction, rash, etc. Misusing or overusing antibiotic resistance accelerates antibiotic resistance. Patient is unresponsive to antibiotic, and thus have to stay longer in hospital with more intensive care. We also showed some data on global antibiotic resistance: there were globally 480,000 new cases of resistant tuberculosis in 2014; and only a half the patients were treated successfully. Finally, we share an example about antibiotic resistance in Kavresthali: one health post worker was suffering from a chest infection, and was not responsive to antibiotics, thus staying in hospital longer with more intensive care.
Practical Guidance- Come to health post first to receive the best advice in antibiotics because health post workers are trained well while pharmacy has not enough training to give the best medical advice.
Pharmacy worker and health post worker: (7 pharmacies and 3 health post workers)
Mechanism of antibiotic resistance: – Mechanism of antibiotic resistance: Misusing or overusing antibiotic -> bacteria is more likely to change its gene to deactivate antibiotic -> The bacteria transfers its gene to others -> Antibiotic resistance spreads over time -> Antibiotic, even a powerful one, become less effective or ineffective -> Patients have to stay longer in hospital, with more intensive care.
Practical guidance – A research has found that some patients in Kavresthali buy antibiotics from pharmacy, without doctor’s prescription, and that some ask health post workers to prescribe an antibiotic even though antibiotic is not needed for their disease even. Therefore, we give practical guidance below to medical workers.
For pharmacy worker: – Do not sell antibiotic to patients without a doctor’s prescription. Convince them to go to health post first, and then come back if health post worker prescribes antibiotics.
For health post worker: – Explain to patients why they do not need antibiotics and consequence of misusing and overusing antibiotics.
The campaign was facilitated by public health volunteers team, a Vietnamese guy Manh and two other local volunteers. The campaign is found largely effective to aware local people about antibiotic use.
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