The government’s drugs watchdog has given the go-ahead for the sale of an oral antibiotic without prescription for the first time to treat chlamydia, in a move that pushes back the barriers to self-medication. Patients aged 16 will be able to buy the azithromycin pill to treat the sexually transmitted disease.
It is designed for use, alongside a test kit, by people who have the infection – and their sexual partners.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency says it will provide a convenient effective treatment. But should such drugs be offered without prescription? Some critics say it will boost sexual promiscuity. What do you think?
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5 comments so far
This is a great plan and should have been offered when testing kits could be picked up from local pharmacies. The ease of using home testing packs has proven to be popular, rather than needing to see your GP, and I would suggest the online service http://www.drthom.com as they deliver testing kits to your door and also send free medication if found positive.
- Posted by cathyThe ” free selling” of antibiotic drugs which oftenly take places in the medicine shops,should be controlled and restrained as well.It is a common practice that we ever experienced that such antibiotic drugs are being sold by the shopkeepers without following any prescription produced by the intended customer.It is too much offensive.We can not imagine that how much harmful could be the antibiotic drug,if is not used under the supervision of any medical practitioner.So the government’s watchdog is doing what,is absolutely right.There should not be any reason arisen behind it.
- Posted by PRANAB HAZRASo how long will it be before a strain of chlamydia resistant to this particular antibiotic becomes dominant in the UK? I’ll open the book at six months for a resistant strain to arise and five years for it to be dominant.
Antibiotics should require a prescription.
- Posted by Bob DowlingAnti-biotics freely available to buy without prescription, at a time when the government is urging GPs to reduce the amount of anti-biotics they prescribe because so many bugs are becoming resistant to them.
Another shining example of joined-up government policy and another example of the fact that clever people don’t necessarily have any common sense.
This is simply returning to the 70’s when it was common to pop a penicillin tablet before sex to “avoid” infection. The result was an explosion in the number of resistant strains of infections and the same will happen again.
- Posted by AndyAt last some sensible idea from the government. Since this std is increasing at an alarming rate because people are shy of the stigma. so getting a testing kit and the drug without a perscription is the way forward.
- Posted by Peter