A time series of antibiotic consumption and use at a tertiary hospital in North-western Tanzania in 2021

Background Promoting the responsible use of antimicrobials is essential in tackling antimicrobial resistance. However, data on consumption and usage of antibiotics in Sub-Saharan Africa are still limited. Methods This was a prospective cross-sectional time series study conducted to investigate the consumption and use of third-and fourth-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones in North Western Tanzania. We collect stock records from outpatient pharmacies in the hospital and conducted exist interviews each month from April to September 2021.We did descriptive analysis in Stata and Ms Excel. Results A total of 982586.2 DDD were consumed with a daily consumption of 1198.5 DDD per 1000 inhabitants per day over the six months. Five classes of antibiotics accounted for 70% of consumption. Beta lactams penicillins (J01C) are the most consumed at 329.25 DDD followed tetracyclines(J01A) 243.85 DDD. By WHO AWaRe Access antibiotics constituted 75%. Of the 253 interviews conducted 131 (51.8%) of the patients were male, 192 (75.9%) patients had bacterial infection as an indication. Ceftriaxone, was the most used cephalosporin and was used mostly to treat pneumonia while ciprofloxacin was the most used fluoroquinolone and was widely but mostly used for UTI and gastrointestinal infections. Up to 44% of prescriptions do not adhere to treatment guidelines. Conclusion We report that antibiotic consumption is in concordance WHO recommendation to have >60% of antibiotics consumed from the access group. However, there is relatively high consumption of ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone in this hospital. Additionally, there, was significant non- adherence to treatment guidelines which underscores the need to establish functioning and robust antimicrobial stewardship programs.