Pharmacy is not a shop
“The idea rooted in the people, that pharmacy is something like a shop, must be changed and new culture of pharmaceutical services must be formed,”- said WHO Armenian Office Infectious Diseases Program Coordinator Gayane Ghukasyan at the conference organized on the occasion of Antibiotic Awareness Day. Recent studies show that even in case of angina and cold antibiotics are prescribed, which may have dangerous consequences. According to the specialists, more than 40 percent of antimicrobial drug prescriptions are not reasonable. According to the Director of Drug and Medical Technology Expertise Center Hakob Topchyan, this gap has been since soviet years when some antibiotics were sold without prescription. The results of the research in European region prove that Armenia is on average place in using antibiotics without prescription. Yerevan pharmacies stated that there are many customers who want to buy antibiotics, but they always ask for a prescription, and if there is no prescription they advise buying another drug. Specialists think that it is also dangerous.
