Antibiotic-Dispensing Patterns and Awareness of Anti-microbial Resistance Among the Community Pharmacists in South-Central India

Background Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is an ongoing epidemic contributing to extremely high healthcare costs and hospital admissions. Inappropriate dispensing of antibiotics is one of the root causes of AMR. Hence, our study aimed to assess antibiotic-dispensing patterns and AMR awareness among pharmacists from South-Central India. Methodology This cross-sectional observational study was conducted over a period of two months from June to July 2023. The pharmacies in urban and semi-urban areas of coastal and central districts of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh were surveyed. Data were collected using a predesigned questionnaire for antibiotic-dispensing patterns and awareness of AMR, as approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Aster Ramesh Hospital, Vijayawada, India. The data were collected and analyzed descriptively by cross-tabulation. Results Among the 389 pharmacies that responded, 78% (n = 303) were dispensing antibiotics over the counter (OTC) and 22% (n = 86) were dispensing antibiotics only for valid prescriptions. It was found that antibiotics were dispensed OTC for common ailments such as the common cold, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, fever, diarrhea, and urinary tract infections. As per the World Health Organization-recommended Access, Watch, and Reserve (AWaRe) criterion, antibiotics under the Watch group such as macrolides (azithromycin), fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, levofloxacin, and ofloxacin) and third-generation cephalosporins (cefixime and cefpodoxime) were found to be widely dispensed OTC. The most common antibiotics dispensed OTC were azithromycin (54.1%), amoxicillin (47.5%), cefixime (40%), amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (15.2%), ofloxacin (13.5%), ciprofloxacin (10%), and doxycycline (6.6%). Among the OTC dispensers, 82.5% (n = 250) were unaware of AMR and 17.5% were partially aware. However, 57% (n = 49) were unaware of AMR and its effects, in pharmacies dispensing antibiotics for valid prescriptions. Conclusion Our findings aggregate evidence on the alarming trend of inappropriate antibiotic-dispensing patterns that may further exacerbate AMR. Strict regulatory enforcement and periodical monitoring to regulate antibiotic dispensing to control unethical dispensing are inevitably necessary.