How Far Are Pharmacists and Customers Involved in the Misuse of Antibiotics in Tripoli City-Libya

Abstract

This study was carried out in an attempt to answer the everlasting question. Are antibiotics being misused? In this
context, the term “misuse” generally means that, the drug is inappropriately-prescribed by physicians and/or dispensed by
pharmacists and/or used by customers. The outline of the work included a field interviews involving 500 customers and 100
community pharmacists across Tripoli city.
The study revealed definitive antibiotics misuse and abuse by both groups as manifested by the fact that 65% of the
interviewed customers use this group of drugs without prescription, almost all of them for conditions and symptoms that
are either not affected by these drugs or require special screening for a particular or specific types of antibiotics. Moreover,
50% of the interviewed pharmacists dispense antibiotics upon consumer requests and preferences and 26% recommend
certain types of these drugs when customers fail to specify the type they want.