Publication Date
9-25-2020
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Anthropology
Keywords
Antibiotics, Pharmacy access, Guatemala, Medication availability
Abstract
Widespread availability of antibiotics without prescription potentially facilitates overuse and contributes to selection pressure for antimicrobial resistant bacteria. Prior to this study, anecdotal observations in Guatemala identified corner stores as primary antibiotic dispensaries, where people purchase antibiotics without prescriptions. We carried out a cross sectional study to document the number and types of antibiotics available in corner stores, in four study areas in Guatemala. A total of 443 corner stores were surveyed, of which 295 (67%) sold antibiotics. The most commonly available antibiotics were amoxicillin, found in 246/295 (83%) stores, and tetracycline, found in 195/295 (66%) stores. Over the counter sales result from laissez-faire enforcement of antibiotic dispensing regulations in Guatemala combined with patient demand. This study serves as a baseline to document changes in the availability of antibiotics in informal establishments in light of new pharmacy regulations for antibiotic dispensing, which were adopted after this study was completed.
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Rights Holder
Purificación Moreno, Alejandro Cerón , Karen Sosa, Marinees Morales, Laura M. Grajeda, Maria Renee Lopez, John P. McCraken, Celia Cordón-Rosales, Guy H. Palmer, Douglas R. Call, Brooke M. Ramay
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Extent
6 pgs
File Size
383 KB
Publication Statement
This article was originally published as:
Moreno, P., Cerón, A., Sosa, K., Morales, M., Grajeda, L.M., Lopez M.R., et al. (2020). Availability of over-the-counter antibiotics in Guatemalan corner stores. PLoS ONE, 15(9): e0239873. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239873
Publication Title
Plos One
Volume
15
Issue
1230796800
First Page
1
Last Page
6
Recommended Citation
Moreno, Purificación; Cerón, Alejandro; Sosa, Karen; Morales, Marinees; Grajeda, Laura M.; Lopez, Maria Renee; McCraken, John P.; Cordón-Rosales, Celia; Palmer, Guy H.; Call, Douglas R.; and Ramay, Brooke M., "Availability of Over-the-Counter Antibiotics in Guatemalan Corner Stores" (2020). Anthropology: Faculty Scholarship. 38.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/anthropology_faculty/38
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239873
DOI Link
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239873
Included in
Inequality and Stratification Commons, International Public Health Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Pharmacy Administration, Policy and Regulation Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons