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Every second Kazakhstani takes medicine without a doctor’s prescription, Tengrinews reports citing a survey presented at the Ministry of Healthcare meeting.
According to the poll conducted by the Medical Information Analytical Center in 2013, every second Kazakhstani buys medicine without a doctor’s prescription by relying on TV and printed ads. 42% of the surveyed Kazakhstanis said that they were strongly influenced by advertisement of medicine. Every second Kazakhstani said that he or she lack time to visit a doctor and every fifth considered himself or herself qualified enough to self-prescribe medications.
73% of the surveyed Kazakhstanis start self-treatment mostly in cases of catching a cold or flu, 44% in case of pains, 32% in cases of digestive disorder, 30% in cases of having a cough or other respiratory problems.
The most popular medications are painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, antispasmodic drugs and over-the-counter cold and cough medications.
88% of the polled read the instruction for the medicine before using it and 89% went as far as comparing their symptoms with those listed in the instructions. 87% of the pollees considered side effects and 81% were careful to use the medicine as advised by the instruction and follow the dosage.
Only 14% of people said that their self-treatment had not produced the expected result. Every fourth had side effects from self-treatment. 27% admitted that self-treatment led to a serious deterioration in their condition.
36% of the surveyed said that they were not given any warnings about the medicine's side effects by drug store attendants when purchasing them without a doctor's prescription.
One in two Kazakhstanis used antibiotics without doctor’s prescription, 32% used them for 1-4 days, 36% used the drugs for 5-7 days and 20% used them for 8 days or more.
Reporting by Renat Tashkinbayev, writing by Gyuzel Kamalova, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina
