Abstract Abstract Background :

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most urgent global health threats with low-resource countries being disproportionately affected. Targeted interventions require insight in antibiotic prescription practices. A point prevalence survey (PPS) is a well-known tool to get insight in antibiotic dispensing practices in hospitals and identify areas for improvement. Here, we describe the results of a PPS performed in a tertiary, regional and district hospital in Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania.

Methods:

A PPS was performed in the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC; tertiary hospital), Mawenzi (regional) and St. Joseph (district) hospital in November and December 2016. Antibiotic use in all patients admitted more than 24 hours and those undergoing surgery was recorded. All clinical wards were included except the pediatrics. Data from a single ward were collected on the same day.

Results :

A total of 399 patients were included in the PPS: 232 patients from KCMC, 94 from Mawenzi hospital and 73 patients from St. Joseph hospital. Overall prevalence of antibiotic use was 44.0%: 38% in KCMC, 59% in Mawenzi and 63% in St. Joseph. C eftriaxone (n=94, 29.8%), metronidazole (n=79, 25.1%) and other antibiotics belonging to the penicillin class (n=89, 28.3%) were most commonly prescribed. Antibiotics prescribed for surgical prophylaxis were continued for more than 3 days in 57% of cases.

Conclusion:

Our study shows a rate of broad-spectrum antibiotic use in Tanzanian hospitals and prolonged surgical antibiotic prophylaxis being a common practice. PPS is an important tool to improve future antibiotic use in Tanzania hospitals.