It was announced some twelve years ago on 6 August 2008, by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency that Azithromycin would be made available over the counter to treat asymptomatic chlamydia infection. Since then Azithromycin is no longer the main treatment for Chlamydia but has continued as treatment for other different types of bacterial diseases. However, the more pressing question is ‘Where to get azithromycin over the counter’.

Changed Role of Azithromycin for Treating Bacterial Infections

The announcement changed forever the status that Azithromycin held within its own group of macrolides and other antibiotic drugs when it became the first oral antibiotic to have its status changed from a prescription-only medication to pharmacy medication status.

The change was revolutionary in a sense because up till then, azithromycin could only be taken with a prescription which meant that a prescription had to be given by a doctor to permit the use of azithromycin for treating any bacterial infection.

 Azithromycin could not be bought either over a physical pharmacy counter, bought over a pharmacy online counter or over a private website. The only way for people to get their hands on azithromycin was by having a doctor’s prescription and other channels would be risky and harmful.

The change literally opened a whole new world where Azithromycin could be available to people who suffered from bacterial infections and who could now have access to the medication not by prescription only but from pharmacies as well. The need for a prescription would still prevail, but it would now be done over the counter on a website!

Pharmacies become Screening, Buying and Treatment Centers

More important, it was recognized that pharmacists had been providing sexual health services for many years and were seen as safe and secure clearing houses for azithromycin. They could also be used as convenient centers for screening and treating patients suffering from bacterial infections.

Patients suffering from bacterial diseases would also be able to purchase their treatment from websites owned by authorized pharmacies.

Alongside the change in the status for azithromycin, those who qualified to purchase medication from pharmacies were those with a positive NAAT (nucleic acid amplification test) results along with their sex partners with all records for patients kept and updated.

While changes within pharmacies continue to take place, a sense of liberalism has traversed the medical services sector with many pharmacies taking advantage of the new switch from a prescription only medicine (POM)-t0-a pharmacy medicine (PM) status for azithromycin.

Bright future ahead for Pharmacies

High ranking health officials are very pleased with the change and have given their full support for similar changes to take place in the future. This outlook may actually establish pharmacies as the primary points of purchase for Azithromycin and other drugs. 

Safety is the only concern for those supporting the move but with safety and security already existing in pharmacies similar changes in the status of other antibiotics especially macrolides similar to Azithromycin may be the inevitable result.

In fact many pharmacists and manufacturers are poised to do their part in promoting and supporting the changes when they do eventuate sometime in the future. They are also being spurred on by comments made from high level health officials that a similar move may be made for preventive and chronic disease medications.

The Current Scenario on Azithromycin

Already there are signs galore that pharmacies are busying themselves preparing for an expected deluge of medications that will come their way. Indeed many are operating now as middle companies between the general practitioners and patients.

Although this may be a long-term trend, pharmacies are pre-empting the inevitable, especially with the use of azithromycin in tablet, suspended and injection treatment forms which would make packaging and shipping a lot easier. Even so, the main trend will be that pharmacies will get to do practically everything before the medicine falls into the hand of the customer.

 It would be fair to say though that for now and the future, pharmacies will move into monopoly mode in the field of medication for bacterial diseases along with treatments for preventive and chronic diseases. While a prescription may still apply, the doctor will be doing less while more of the workload will be performed by pharmacies.

It would appear that even now, a patient wanting treatment with azithromycin can do so over the counter online from numerous drugstores through a process which is now popularly known as online consultation.

How Online Consultation Operates

Online consultation has everything to do with where a person can obtain azithromycin medication and it works in a very simple fashion. Actually, it functions in the same manner as your GP or doctor writing you prescription based on the answers you provide for questions asked.

The difference with online consultation is that you yourself answer questions listed on a questionnaire on the pharmacy website. Your answers are reviewed by a doctor who evaluates your order. If the ordered medicine is safe to use, the doctor will issue a prescription online. A pharmacy which partners with the doctor receives the prescription and packs and ships the order!

Why Doesn’t the Prescription Just Disappear?

Believe or not there are websites that sell Azithromycin without either a prescription or online consultation. The reason is that these websites are selling counterfeit medicine or fake copies of the real medication!

Why? Because they have no prescription from a general practitioner (GP) and they don’t have an online prescription. So, yes a prescription is still needed.

What actually happens with online consultation is that you never actually see or handle a prescription because it’s all done online and is only used for packing and shipping the order you’ve made and you’ll ultimately receive it at your front door.

Conclusion

This article has traced the journey of the bacterial disease medication azithromycin from the moment it was announced as a pharmacy medicine from a prescription only medicine. The middle road features the effects of the change and how pharmacies have prepared themselves to meet their roles head on until everything gravitates towards online consultation and to the future. All along the journey is the response to the our question, ‘