Why you need to think twice before taking antibiotics from local pharmacies

KEMRI Board Chair Dr Abdullahi Ali speaks during the opening of the Kenya National AMR Conference 2026 in Mombasa on January 21, 2026. [Robert Menza, Standard]

Doctors and research scientists from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) have warned Kenyans against abusing antibiotics, which has led to high cases of drug resistance and deaths.

Researchers drawn from KEMRI and the Ministry of Health said that Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is high in Kenya because of self-prescription habits by Kenyans.

The Doctors said that minor bacterial and viral infections have become resistant to drugs because of the misuse of antibiotics.

Speaking during the Kenya National AMR Conference in Mombasa, KEMRI Board of Directors Chair Dr. Abdullahi Ali said that it is illegal to prescribe a half dose, as most Kenyans are accustomed to when buying medicine from chemists.

“There is nothing like half dose or quarter doses; it is illegal. Please take drugs according to the way you have been prescribed,” said Dr. Ali.

Dr Ali said that Panadol is the easiest drug that can be bought over the counter, but its misuse can cause liver and many other dangerous diseases in  body organs.

“There is no medicine that is 100 percent clean so please take care of the doses you take and do not take underdoses because that is one of the cause of anti-microbial diseases,” said Dr. Ali

Ali said that AMR poses a direct threat to Kenya’s aspirations for Universal Health Coverage, health security and pandemic preparedness.

He said that resistance also undermines the country’s social and economic development.

According to Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases Dr. James Alexander, small children do not require antibiotics because only a few viruses cause severe diseases like Covid-19 but most of the viruses that cause fever, cough, and diarrhoea are mild and get better within three to five days, and antibiotics do not help them.

“90 to 95 per cent of the children do not need antibiotics because they have a very mild infection,” said Dr Alexander. "Antibiotics target bacteria and not viruses."

Senior Principal Research Scientist at KEMRI, Dr Sam Kariuki, said that in rural settings, there is a lower prevalence of microbial resistance compared to cities where antibiotics are available.

“We have a range of malaria drugs that have been dropped in the last 10 years because of resistance,” said Dr. Kariuki.

According to Dr Saumu Wayuwa, a Paediatrician at Mombasa Health Department, AMR has been brought about by bacterial or viral infections that are drug-resistant because of the abuse of drugs.

“Most antibiotic drugs we use are supposed to be prescribed by a health professional in the hospital after check-ups, but we usually get them without being tested," she said.