Table 4 Comparison of medicines prescription patterns across three African Countries
WHO prescribing indicator | South Africa Oct–Dec 2018* | Ethiopia Jan 2017–June 2019** | Eritrea Sept 2017–Jan 2018*** |
|---|---|---|---|
The average number of medicines per encounter | 4.3 | 1.7 | 1.8 |
% Medicines prescribed by generic name | 43% | 95.6% | 94.9% |
% Encounters with an antibiotic prescribed | 28% | 58.2% | 54.5% |
% Encounters with an injection prescribed | 8% | 15.9% | 6.6% |
% Medicines prescribed from an essential medicines list or formulary | 90% | 93.9% | 94.8% |