Samuel Afari-Asiedu, a medical sociologist and research fellow at the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC), is concerned about the widespread misuse of medicines in rural areas, which is contributing to antimicrobial resistance in the country.
As a result, he has urged the Pharmacy Council and other stakeholders to consider educating community vendors in the proper administration of antibiotics in order to maximise their effectiveness.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when the body's resistance to treatments prevents medicines from treating certain conditions.
It happens when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites alter their features over time and stop responding to medications, making illnesses more difficult to cure and raising the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death.
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Mr Afari-Asiedu was speaking at the KHRC in the Bono East Region with a group of health journalists who are members of the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN).
Journalists were present at the centre to become acquainted with its functioning.
According to him, a research done by the KHRC in the Kintampo North and South districts in 2016 indicated that 86 percent of the population was using antibiotics inappropriately.
Antimicrobial resistance, according to Mr Afari-Asiedu, is one of the top ten dangers to global public health, with the issue growing in importance in low and middle-income nations due to easy access to antibiotics at the community level.
He said that, despite the fact that antibiotics were not intended to be offered over-the-counter by drugstores, the dealers were breaking the law.
The research fellow blamed the misuse in part on the large distances individuals had to go to get health care and their lack of knowledge about antibiotics.