Abstract
The Pharmaceutical Journal of Sri Lanka is the official scientific publication of the Pharmaceutical Society of Sri Lanka. Authors are invited to submit articles throughout the year, and if accepted after a blinded peer review process, will be published online in one of the two issues published each year. The journal including both issues will be printed only once a year. The Pharmaceutical Journal of Sri Lanka aims at providing an avenue for publications by pharmacy undergraduates, university academics, pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientist of Sri Lanka and the South Asian region. The journal accepts original research work either as a full research paper or as a short communication, review, brief report, special communication, commentary, case study and other categories of articles related to pharmaceutical sciences. Articles are accepted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere.
Highlights
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a critical global health challenge
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a considerable challenge to human health.[1]. AMR has the potential to rapidly and spread around the world [2]; it is a global public health issue.[3]. Inappropriate and excessive antibiotic use can contribute to the emergence of resistant bacteria.[4]. This has very serious health, social and economic consequences in developing countries.[4]. In
The situation in developing countries is made worse by certain common practices such as the high prevalence of irrational use of antibiotics facilitated by the relatively easy availability of antibiotics dispensed without prescriptions.[79]. Self-medication with antibiotics is a common practice in many developing countries.[9,10,11,12] In addition, antibiotics are often sold in unregulated settings such as roadside stalls in some developing countries.[13]. The inappropriate use of antibiotics in food-producing animals and in marine products remains a major challenge in some of these countries.[14,15] These numerous factors contribute to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in developing countries, [16,3] eventually leading to the formation of resistant bacteria.[1,4]
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a critical global health challenge. Sri Lanka a developing country is more vulnerable to AMR than developed nations due to numerous complex healthcare system issues including inappropriate dispensing practices of antibiotics at community pharmacies leading to inappropriate antimicrobial use. Sri Lanka, a developing country in South Asia with a population of over 21 million, has wellestablished national medicines regulations for the supply of medicines including antibiotics.[17] antimicrobial drugs should only be dispensed on a medical prescription from a registered medical prescriber.[17] Sri Lanka has national therapeutic guidelines to support best practice in prescribing.[18] Recent reports from Sri Lanka indicated a high prevalence of community acquired infections, [19] a concerning spread of resistant bacteria in hospitals [20,21] and inappropriate antibiotic use in humans [22] and farm animals.[23] Importantly, Sri Lanka has introduced a national strategic plan for combating AMR.[24] A clear national plan adhering to the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on AMR, [25] for implementation between 2017 and 2022, was introduced by the Honourable President of Sri Lanka [24] and emphasized the important roles of healthcare professionals, educators, policymakers and other stakeholders to overcome AMR in Sri Lanka. The aim of this study was to investigate strategies that have the potential to be implemented in Sri Lanka to minimize the inappropriate antibiotic dispensing practices
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