Over five per cent of Maltese who feel a sore throat coming on prescribe antibiotics for themselves without consulting a physician, placing Malta fifth among 19 European countries surveyed on the subject of self-medication.
Antimicrobial drugs are still greatly sought in Malta as a cure, especially for throat symptoms, and the island has the third highest rate (42.2 per cent) of antibiotic prescriptions, according to a recent research paper.
However, Michael Borg, who heads the newly set up National Antibiotic Committee, said that 80 to 90 per cent of throat problems and coughs (excluding smokers, the very old and the very young) were actually viral and could not be treated with antibiotics.
"Respiratory infections cannot be treated with antibiotics, but these drugs continue to be prescribed," he told The Sunday Times.
The paper, titled 'Emerging Infectious Diseases' and published by the Centre for Disease Control, surveyed the populations of 19 countries in a bid to compare the prevalence of antimicrobial drug self-medication in a 12-month timeframe.
Referring to the paper, Mr Borg highlighted his concerns over people's attitude to self-medication: "This means that people either had leftover drugs at home, which is risky when you don't complete your course, or else they obtained the medication without a prescription."
Mr Borg said the level of over-the-counter dispensing without a prescription was going down - in 2001 the figure stood at around 17 per cent, but the last study in 2004 showed it had fallen to eight per cent.
"However, eight per cent is still eight per cent too many. In Cyprus, the figure is less than 0.5 per cent," he pointed out.
The news comes at a time when the change of seasons brings with it nasty colds and inflamed throats.
Malta still had a very high pro-antibiotic culture, Mr Borg said, and patients often pressured doctors or pharmacists to obtain antibiotics without a prescription.
Once described as a wonder drug, antibiotics are starting to lose the battle against superbugs, such as MRSA, which are becoming increasingly resistant to the drug due to the excessive misuse and over-prescription.
Previously effective antibiotics have lost their powers against a steadily growing list of resistant pathogens. As a result, the arsenal against severe, and often lethal, infectious diseases, like tuberculosis and pneumonia, is rapidly diminishing.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is accelerating worldwide, and in Malta more than half of the skin infections caused by the microbe Staphylococcus aureus have become resistant to the most commonly prescribed cream.
Research in the UK has established that over 60 per cent of prescribed antibiotics are unnecessary, and Mr Borg has little doubt the situation was very similar in Malta.
The EU is also embarking on an awareness campaign and next month it will launch its first European Antibiotic Awareness Day on November 18.
The plan is for this to become an annual event to spread information on the risks associated with inappropriate use of antibiotics.
Mr Borg said the idea was to convince and encourage the stakeholders - doctors, pharmacists and patients - to use these drugs responsibly.
"We have to look at our practices and cut down on the amount of antibiotics prescribed."