RESUMO
Appropriate use of antibiotics requires an interdisciplinary approach in which hospital and community pharmacies play a key role. The activities carried out in hospital pharmacy can be divided into 3 stages: a) before prescription: through the selection of antimicrobial agents, the creation of guides on prophylaxis and empirical treatments, and incorporation of the decisions into computer programmes that provide detailed electronic prescriptions; b) during prescription: prescription assessment, dose adjustment, patient information and infection data, preparation of doses to be used, pharmacokinetic adjustments and monitoring of treatment duration, and c) after treatment: clinical audits and measurements of the use of antibiotics. In community pharmacy, activities include promoting patient compliance, pharmacotherapeutic follow-up of patients to prevent and detect drug-related problems and avoidance of over-the-counter drug dispensation. Suggestions for improvement include mainly training in monitoring the use of antimicrobials, integration in interdisciplinary teams and avoiding the sale of over-the-counter antibiotics.