“Antibiotic packaging to be flagged red”, DGDA’s directive

To curb the irrational use of antibiotics, the Bangladesh DGDA now requires pharmaceutical manufactures to label antibiotics packaging with a red-flagged message, “Antibiotics: Use only with prescription by a qualified physician”, before marketing and sale. A study by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research of Bangladesh found that an average of 31%-67% of bacteria in Bangladesh are resistant to antibiotics. This drive will not only increase consumer awareness of the problem but also will help medicine dispensers to quickly identify the antibiotics that require a valid prescription to be sold. In addition, the DGDA has held promotional campaigns to further raise awareness of the safe use of antibiotics. In this effort, the organisation collaborated with WHO to hold a two-day antimicrobial resistance (AMR) event for medical doctors and retail medicine shop owners and dispensers from 15 to 16 March 2023 in Rajshahi district. BHB’s Senior Technical Adviser, Ms. Raian Amzad, spoke at the event about BHB’s activities to help contain AMR. Mr. Mostafizur Rahman, Director, DGDA chaired the first day’s event for the retail medicine shop owners and dispensers. The second day, targeting medical doctors, was chaired by the Director General of Drug Administration, Major General Dr Mohammad Yousuf.