IT is compulsory to complete every antibiotic prescribed by the doctor, says Health Ministry acting chief pharmacist Apolosi Vosanibola.
Mr Vosanibola said the impact of not completing antibiotics was that you are giving the chance for the bacteria to grow again.
“Say for example a five-day course of a seven-day course is meant to eliminate all bacteria in whatever infections that you have,” he said.
“But if you cut short that treatment that means you will have some bacteria left and that bacteria will respond to that antibiotic where we just sort of change their being of bacteria.”
Mr Vosanibola also highlighted that antibiotics was meant for only one person and was not meant to be shared.
“What we are also trying to do is not share the antibiotics because that antibiotic is only for your own infection diagnosed by the doctor, someone might have the same symptoms with a different infection. We are trying to discourage this because that antibiotic is only for one person. And also you should not keep it for the future as well.
“You complete the whole course so that you eliminate all bacteria in your system. So you don’t give any chance for the bacteria to respond or to change its own structure to resist any future use of antibiotics, that’s the whole focus, you need to complete the whole course.”
He has reminded people to use antibiotics just for that moment because the concern was on their health as human beings.