Table 2 Summary of the codebook

Self-medication (SM)

Purchase and use of prescription-only-medicines, including antibiotics, without medical prescription. Subcategories: i) SM to treat viral infections (influenza, other respiratory or gastro-intestinal infections); ii) causes and scope of SM; iii) solutions to the problem of SM, including the new policy to enforce sales regulation.

Antibiotic resistance (AR)

Antimicrobial or antibiotic resistance. Subcategories: i) causes and scope, including relation to self-medication and prescription ii) solutions, ii) using AR as an argument to support the new policy to enforce regulation on antibiotic sales.

Prescription (PM)

Medical PM of antibiotics. Subcategories: i) unjustified PM of antibiotics (for instance, for influenza and other respiratory diseases) ii) perception of low quality of PM; iii) need to train physicians and improve their PM of antibiotics

Economic impact (EI)

Direct and indirect EI resulting from the enforcement policy. Subcategories: i) EI in the private sector such as pharmacies and the pharmaceutical industry; ii) EI in the population.

Corruption (CO)

Corruption in the pharmaceutical sector derived from the enforcement policy. Subcategories: i) Black market of counterfeit medicines; ii) Black market of prescriptions; iii) CO in the process of pharmacy supervision; iv) physicians involved in CO.

Regulation (RE)

Regulation and policies related to the sales of antibiotics in Mexico. Subcategories: i) Legislative framework and lack of enforcement; ii) processes of drafting and implementing the enforcement policy; iii) need to develop an impact evaluation of the enforcement policy; iv) objective of the enforcement policy; v) need to disseminate information about the enforcement policy.

Health System (HS)

Functioning of the Mexican health system in relation to antibiotic use or the enforcement policy. Subcategories: i) problems of the HS; ii) impact of the enforcement policy on the health services provided in the HS; iii) access to health services for the population without health insurance.

Rational use of medicines (RUM)

Rational use of medicines in the national and international context. Subcategories: i) International guidelines on RUM; ii) recommendations to achieve RUM in Mexico; iii) causes and consequences of inappropriate use of antibiotics, including adverse reactions (but excluding references related solely to self-medication).

Pharmacies (PH)

Functioning of pharmacies in relation to antibiotic use or the enforcement policy. Subcategories: i) Operation of PH, ii) quality of services provided by pharmacy staff, and training of pharmacy staff; iii) position of pharmacy associations towards the enforcement policy; iv) demand of the pharmacy associations owners towards the government.