The origin of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan China has been reported to be one of the lethal pandemics the world has ever faced. Though the first case was reported in December 2019, COVID-19 spread so rapidly to the majority of countries by March 2020 and was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. COVID-19 pandemic led to increased morbidity and mortality within a very short period of time. COVID-19 pandemic caused schools, colleges, and universities to come to a closure in order to avoid further transmission and spread of the disease. The physical closure of schools, colleges, and universities has impacted students in several ways in that some students have reported suffering from anxiety, depression, and mood swings. COVID-19 has disrupted social interaction among students and has affected their family life. These impacts on students will eventually affect their academic performance and progression. Thus, learning institutions should put in measures to help students recover from the impacts of COVID-19.

Background: The issue of antibiotic resistance has become a global public health concern, with an extensive clinical and economic burden. The study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of antibiotic resistance among undergraduate medical students at the University of Zambia.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Zambia Ridgeway Campus. A structured questionnaire was administered to 260 randomly selected undergraduate medical students. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. Associations between dependent and independent variables were done using a Chi-square test. The statistical significance was done at 95% confidence level (p<0.05). Ethical approval was done by the University of Zambia Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee.Results: The study found that 227 of 260 (87.3%) of the medical students had good knowledge on antibiotic use and resistance. The majority of the medical students 252 of 260 (96.9%) had positive attitudes and 195 of 260 (75%) had good practices towards antibiotic resistance. There was a significant difference between the year of study and the level of knowledge (χ2=16.333, p=0.003). There was no significant difference between the year of study and the attitude of the participants (χ2=4.061, p=0.398). A significant difference was found between the year of study and the practices of the respondents (χ2=10.926, p=0.027).Conclusions: The medical students had good knowledge, a positive attitude, and good practices towards antibiotic resistance. Final year students had higher levels of knowledge and attitude but lower levels of practice compared to other years of study.

Introduction: Indiscriminate prescribing and using of antibiotics have led to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). To reduce this problem, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the "Access", "Watch", and "Reserve" (AWaRe) classification of antibiotics that promotes antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). In Zambia, there are gaps in practice regarding prescribing of antibiotics based on the AWaRe protocol. This study assessed antibiotic prescribing patterns in adult in-patients in selected primary healthcare hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using 388 patient medical files from September 2021 to November 2021, five primary healthcare hospitals namely; Chawama, Matero, Chilenje, Kanyama, and Chipata. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23.

Antibiotic resistance is among the major threats to global health. Due to limited information on the subject matter in Zambia, we assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practices of community pharmacists on antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial stewardship. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among 144 randomly selected community pharmacists through a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22 at 95% confidence level. A response rate of 91% (n=144) was achieved. The majority (63%) of the community pharmacists were male and were aged between 30 and 39 years. Interestingly, 93.8% had good knowledge while 67% had positive attitudes. Conversely, 75% of the community pharmacists demonstrated poor practices towards antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial stewardship. Even though community pharmacists had good knowledge and positive attitudes, they demonstrated poor practices that require quick educational interventions. There is a need to promote antimicrobial stewardship sensitization programmes among community pharmacists. Keywords: Antibiotic resistance, antimicrobial stewardship, attitude, community pharmacists, knowledge, practices, Zambia

Background: Antimicrobial/Antibiotic Resistance (AMR) is among the major threats to global health. Due to limited information on the subject matter in Zambia, we assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practices of community pharmacists on AMR and Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS). Materials and Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among 144 randomly selected community pharmacists through a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22 at a 95% confidence level. The Fisher’s exact test was used to determine the relationship between sociodemographic factors of community pharmacists and their knowledge, attitude, and practices on antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial stewardship. Results: A response rate of 91% (n = 144) was achieved. Interestingly, 93.8% had good knowledge while 67% had positive attitudes regarding AMR and AMS. Conversely, 75% of the community pharmacists demonstrated poor practices towards AMR and AMS. The majority of the CPs 69.4% agreed that antibiotic resistance is a public health problem. The majority of the CPs 57.6% agreed that the appropriate use of antibiotics improves patient care and outcome. Of concern, (32.6%) of CPs rarely collaborated with other healthcare workers in activities that promote infection control and AMS. Also, the majority of the CPs did not take part in antibiotic awareness campaigns nor educate the public on antibiotic use and over 80% of CPs regularly issued antibiotics without a prescription. Conclusions: Even though community pharmacists had good knowledge and positive attitudes, they demonstrated poor practices that require quick educational interventions. As most CPs issue antibiotics without a prescription, this should be highlighted as a major policy issue on AMR and should be addressed by the Government. There is a need to promote AMS sensitization programmes among community pharmacists.