Research Article Veterinary Drug Prescribing Practices at Selected District Veterinary Clinics of Rift Valley Areas of Ethiopia Monenus Etefa , 1 Ashenafi Feyisa Beyi , 2 Dinka Ayana, 3 Tariku Jibat Beyene , 4 and Takele Beyene Tufa 3,5 1 Jimma University, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Jimma, Ethiopia 2 Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA 3 College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Addis Ababa University, Bishoftu, Ethiopia 4 Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, e Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA 5 Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands CorrespondenceshouldbeaddressedtoMonenusEtefa;monevet2015@gmail.com Received 14 October 2020; Accepted 25 October 2021; Published 8 November 2021 AcademicEditor:AntonioOrtega-Pacheco Copyright©2021MonenusEtefaetal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. erationaluseofdrugsinveterinarymedicinehasvarioussignificances,suchasreducingtheriskofdrugresistance,increasing efficacy,reducingdrugresidue,anddecreasingadversedrugreactions.Aretrospectivestudywasconductedtoassessveterinary drugprescribingpracticesatBatuandArsi-NegelledistrictveterinaryclinicsintheriftvalleyareasofEthiopia.Atotalof2,464 caseswererecordedfromthecaseregistrationbooksatboththeclinicsfordiseasestreatedbetweenSeptember2012andFebruary 2015.estudyresultsshowedthatforatotalof2,464casesdiagnosedatbothclinics,3,811differentdrugswereprescribed,with anaverageperencounterof1.6.Amongthetotaldrugs,oxytetracycline,ivermectin,penstrep,sulfadrugs,andalbendazolewere themostleadingprescribeddrugswithafrequencyof43.0%,17.6%,10.2%,6.5%,and1.3%,respectively.Alldrugswereprescribed by the generic name without any laboratory support of the disease. About 68.3% of the cases were diagnosed by unspecified professionals, whereas 21.7% and 10.1% were done by animal health assistants and veterinarians, respectively. e prescribing practicesshowed61.0%ofantibioticsand29.7%ofanthelminticswhere45.3%and54.7%ofantibioticsand17.8%and82.2%of anthelminticsweregivenatBatuandArsi-Negelleveterinaryclinics,respectively.Oftheprescribeddrugs,4.6%oxytetracycline and2.6%penstrepwereprescribedirrationallytotreatdiseasesthatweretentativelydiagnosedasparasiticcases.Similarly,40.5% ivermectin and 17.7% albendazole were prescribed for bacterial infections. In conclusion, this study revealed problems in antibiotics and anthelmintics use, description of routes of administration and length of treatment, and shortage of laboratory diagnostic facilities. erefore, veterinary drugs, particularly antibiotics and anthelmintics, should be used appropriately to safeguard the public from residual drug impacts and resistance development. 1.Introduction e rational use of drugs is the use of the right medicines, correctdosage,andcorrectcost,whichiswellreflectedinthe World Health Organization (WHO) definition: “Rational use of drugs requires that patients receive medications appropriate to their clinical needs, in doses that meet their requirementsforanadequateperiod,atthelowestcost”[1]. However, the irrational use of medicines is when one or moreoftheseconditionsarenotmet,forexample,toomany medicines are prescribed per patient, injections are used where oral formulations would be more appropriate, anti- microbial agents are prescribed in inadequate doses or duration, or antibiotics prescribed for nonbacterial infec- tions, thereby contributing to the growing problem of an- timicrobial resistance and prescriptions do not follow clinical guidelines [2]. Problemslikelackofinformation,poorcommunication between health professionals and animal owners, lack of diagnostic facilities, demand from the owners, and high Hindawi Veterinary Medicine International Volume 2021, Article ID 6669036, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6669036