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Objectives: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, awareness and practice among the lay public regarding storage and disposal of unused and expired medicines. Materials and Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional, single-centre and questionnaire-based survey. After obtaining Institutional Ethics Committee approval, the study was conducted using a pre-validated structured questionnaire distributed among the lay public visiting a tertiary care hospital located in an urban metropolitan city. Results: Four hundred of 720 individuals visiting the tertiary care hospital participated in the survey. The results revealed that 75% had never referred to any sources to get the correct information about the proper and safe disposal of medicines and had no knowledge regarding the same. About 12.75% of study participants reported that they were educated regarding the disposal of medicines by their treating physicians (RR: 0.71 [95% CI: 0.51–0.99]) when compared with the other sources of information (18%) with statistically significant contribution made by the physicians (p<0.05). About 67% of the public stored their medicines at room temperature. Majority (83.75%) of the study participants reported that they disposed unused and expired drugs in the dustbin. Only 42.5% of the public knew the detrimental effect of improper drug disposal on human health and our ecosystem. In addition, 80% (320/400) of the participants confirmed that, given the option, they would prefer to return the unused or expired drugs to the pharmacy shops from where the medicines were purchased. Conclusion: There is a need to educate drug consumers/general public about safe and proper disposal of unused/ expired medicines. Health-care professionals, governments and policymakers should offer training to educate the general public about Indian regulations for safe disposal of unused/expired medicines.
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O Brasil é um dos países que mais consomem medicamentos no mundo, em contrapartida não há uma legislação que regulamente o descarte de medicamentos domiciliares, sendo a maioria deles descartados incorretamente no lixo comum ou esgoto, contaminando o meio ambiente e trazendo prejuízos ambientais, sociais e econômicos. Ao analisar o material foi observado que 95,98% eram sólidos, 2,58 líquidos, 1,51% semissólidos e 0,24% outros. Já em relação às classes terapêuticas 27,25% eram medicamentos de ação cardiovascular, 15,30% de ação gastrointestinal, 15,07% de antimicrobianos, 14,44% de ação no SNC, 10,71% anti-inflamatórios, 5,49% analgésicos e antipiréticos, 3,52% antialérgicos, 3,31% de ação no trato respiratório, 2,83% hormônios e 2,09% outros. E o prejuízo econômico decorrente da perda dos medicamentos foi de aproximadamente R$ 9470,00. Diante do exposto, podemos concluir que o uso irracional de medicamentos, a não adesão terapêutica, a falta de fracionamento, as estratégias do marketing farmacêutico, as prescrições irracionais, a venda sem prescrição e a falta de educação sanitária da população a respeito dos medicamentos levam a um consumo indiscriminado dos mesmos, o que corrobora para o acúmulo nas residências e o descarte incorreto.
Brazil is one of the countries that consume most medicines in the world, in contrast there is no legislation that regulates the disposal of home medicines, most of them being disposed of incorrectly in common garbage or sewage, contaminating the environment and bringing environmental, social and economic damages. When analyzing the material, it was observed that 95.98% were solid, 2.58 liquids, 1.51% semi-solid and 0.24% others. With regard to the therapeutic classes, 27.25% were medicines with a cardiovascular action, 15.30% with a gastrointestinal action, 15.07% with antimicrobials, 14.44% with an CNS action, 10.71% with anti-inflammatories, 5.49% with analgesics and antipyretics, 3.52% with antiallergies, 3.31% with an action on the respiratory tract, 2.83% with hormones and 2.09% others. And the economic loss resulting from the loss of the medicines was approximately R$ 9470.00. In the light of the above, we can conclude that the irrational use of medicines, the non-adherence to treatment, the lack of fractionation, the strategies of pharmaceutical marketing, the irrational prescriptions, the non-prescription sale and the lack of health education of the population regarding the medicines lead to an indiscriminate consumption of the medicines, which corroborates for the accumulation in the residences and the incorrect disposal.
Brasil es uno de los países que más consumen medicinas en el mundo, en contraste, no existe legislación que regule la eliminación de medicinas domésticas, la mayoría de las cuales son descartadas incorrectamente en desechos o aguas residuales comunes, contaminando el medio ambiente y ocasionando pérdidas ambientales, sociales y económicas. Al analizar el material se observó que el 95,98% eran sólidos, 2,58 líquidos, 1,51% semisólidos y 0,24% otros. En cuanto a las clases terapéuticas, el 27,25% fueron medicamentos de acción cardiovascular, el 15,30% de acción gastrointestinal, el 15,07% antimicrobianos, el 14,44% de acción del SNC, el 10,71% antiinflamatorios, el 5,49% analgésicos y antipiréticos, el 3,52% 3,31% de acción en el tracto respiratorio, 2,83% de hormonas y 2,09% de otras. Y la pérdida económica resultante de la pérdida de los medicamentos fue de aproximadamente R$ 9470,00. A la luz de lo que antecede, podemos concluir que el uso irracional de los medicamentos, la no adhesión a la terapia, la falta de fraccionamiento, las estrategias de comercialización farmacéutica, las prescripciones irracionales, la venta sin receta y la falta de educación en la salud de la población sobre los medicamentos conducen a su consumo indiscriminado, lo que corrobora la acumulación en los hogares y la eliminación incorrecta.
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Background: Safe disposal of expired medicines is a problem which is current area of intense discussion among policy makers. This project was conducted to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among hospital pharmacies and drug store owners about expired medicines and their disposal. The information generated could be used to plan proper and safe drug disposal practices. Aims and Objectives: This project was conducted to explore the KAP among hospital pharmacies and drug store owners about expired medicines and their disposal. The information generated could be used to plan proper and safe drug disposal practices. Materials and Methods: The target population for the current project were the pharmacies dispensing drugs to patients. Pharmacies situated in the hospitals were also covered in this survey. KAP survey is designed to explore the present concepts about a topic of public interest in the target population. Results: The present study was conducted in 373 participants. Most of the participants (88.37%) believed that expired drugs should be returned to manufacturers and proper disposition is the responsibility of pharmacists (72.6%). However, few others believed that it should be cumulative responsibility of nursing professionals and municipal corporations as well. Most of the pharmacists were of opinion that expiry date is fixed by regulatory body (56.0%) and depends on storage conditions (59.2%) of drugs. Conclusion: An innovative policy needs to be implemented by the health regulators to strengthen the existing drug disposal policies more effectively.
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INTRODUCTION:Unused and expired drugs in the households constitute a dominating cause of environmental contamination with drugs and other health hazards in addition to Industrial waste of the pharmaceutical companies. There are no proper disposal mechanisms being followed in India even we do not have a legislation to follow and to make health care providers accountable. METHODOLOGY:Around 650 households were surveyed to know about their current practicing methods of drug disposal and also their knowledge on impact of improper drug disposal on health and environment. RESULTS:Our study shown that nearly 85% of the participants discarded leftover medications by throwing them in the Garbage, while 7% burned in open place and few Respondents 1-2% followed returned to Pharmacy/health facility/friends etc. CONCLUSIONS :There is an urgent need for creating awareness among the people regarding proper drug disposal mechanisms
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Background: In the recent years, large number of human pharmaceuticals have been introduced to the environment by landfill when household medications are thrown to trash and liquid medications gain access to the environment via liquid drainage systems. There is lack of knowledge and awareness in the general public regarding the safe disposal of unused and expired medicines. The objective was to assess the awareness regarding disposal of unused medicines among consumers at a tertiary care teaching hospital of north IndiaMethods: It was a cross-sectional observational questionnaire-based study carried out on 220 consumers in medicine outpatient department (OPD) of a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India for 3 months. All the participants were provided the pre-validated self-administered questionnaire. The final questionnaire consisted of twelve questions to assess participants’ knowledge and attitude towards disposal of the medicines. The data was analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics.Results: It is quite evident from the present study that majority of participants 56.36% stated 1-5 drugs were left-over drugs at their homes. Most of the leftover medicines were analgesics in 59.1% followed by antibiotics in 51.36%. Most common dosage form of these leftover medicines were tablets in 85.9% of respondents. Majority of the respondents (55.9%) were not aware of the adverse outcomes of the pharmaceuticals in the environment. The most common method followed by majority of the participants for disposing of the solid, semi-solid and liquid dosage forms was garbage in 95%, 91.4% and 76.4% of consumers respectively. About 9.31% of the participants were in favour of initiating a program to collect unused medications from home.Conclusions: It can be concluded from the present study that the consumers had poor knowledge regarding the safe drug disposal techniques. Therefore, efforts need to be done by the health care professionals to make people educate regarding the safe drug disposal techniques.
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Background: Increasing disease incidence and prevalence necessitate healthcare practitioners to prescribe diverse medications. Families and patients are in possession of unused or expired medications and its risks have started gaining notice across the world. Majority of them including medical students are unaware about the disposal of unused or expired medicines. Misuse and improper disposal of unused/expired medications is a major safety and environmental concern, and thus proper disposal of those medications is highly important.Methods: Questionnaire based study was conducted among medical undergraduates of third year MBBS in two tertiary care teaching hospitals of Uttar Pradesh after approval from Institutional Ethical Committees during July-August 2018.Results: There were 65% of respondent had unused drugs in their home while 30% had the expired drugs. The most common reason for the unused and expiry drugs in the home was self-discontinuation. Analgesics were the main group of drugs possessed by participants. 67% in this study responded that drug disposal method was disposing the expired drugs to garbage. Only 26% know about the area in the city where unused/expired drugs are collected. 46% think that proper education of the community is required for appropriate disposal of unused drugs.Conclusions: Intervention by education about prudent drug disposal techniques that are also environmentally safe and acceptable is the need of time to change their behavior. There is also needing to understand the practice and awareness of the public to make any such education by program a success.
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Unused medications have the possibility of being abused, causing serious harm to individuals who were not prescribed the drug. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends the proper disposal of unused prescribed medications to maintain safety and prevent environmental hazards. However, many of the current disposal techniques do not properly address safety. A drug disposal pouch containing granular activated carbon offers a unique disposal method to deactivate residual or expiredmedication in a convenient, effective, and safe manner. A robust and validated method for methylphenidate hydrochloride and loxapine succinate was developed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the deactivation efficiency of the disposal system was tested. Methylphenidate hydrochloride was analyzed on a C18 analytical column (250mm × 4.60mm, 100?) using acetonitrile-water (0.05％ (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0mL/min with a run time of 15min and retention time of 7.8min. Loxapine succinate was separated on a C8100? (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column maintained at 25 °C using a flow rate of 1.0mL/min. The run time was 10min and the retention time of the drug was around 4.6min.Mobile phase was composed of acetonitrile and water (0.3％ triethylamine) at pH 3.0 as 40:60 (v/v). Reference standard solutions (100 μg/mL) for both drugs were prepared by dissolving in mobile phases. These methods provide good linearity (R2 = 0.999) over the range of 5–100 μg/mL for methylphenidate hydrochloride and 0.1–100 μg/mL for loxapine succinate. The assay methods were successfully applied to study the deactivation of these drugs.
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O descarte de medicamento feito pela população é um tema que vem sendo cada vez mais discutido, Há uma crescente preocupação, pois a grande maioria da população não tem o conhecimento das consequências ambientais e nem das consequências à saúde pública que o descarte incorreto de medicamentos pode causar, Surgem ao redor do país, algumas iniciativas privativas e isoladas apresentando soluções à problemática, oferecendo à população estrutura para o descarte correto e informação sobre o tema, Por ainda não haver uma legislação nacional efetiva sobre o assunto, os estados lançam leis, regulamentando a problemática em seus territórios, No Ceará, foi sancionada em 2012 a lei no 15.192, obrigando às farmácias, drogarias e distribuidoras de medicamentos a recolherem os medicamentos da população, porém, devido à realidade local, não está sendo totalmente cumprida, Com a intensificação de discussões sobre as iniciativas particulares e as legislações locais, com o envolvimento de vários setores da sociedade e com a troca de experiências de programas em funcionamento, torna-se possível impulsionar projetos em locais onde a população ainda não tem oportunidade de dar a destinação correta aos medicamentos em desuso, Esse artigo traz à discussão a ocorrência de resíduos de medicamentos no meio ambiente, aspectos relacionados aos avanços na legislação brasileira quanto ao manejo de resíduos de medicamentos, às propostas de implantação de programas de recolhimento de medicamentos no país e alguns de seus desafios...
Drug disposal by the population is an important issue that has been widely discussed. There is a growing concern, because the vast majority of the population has no awareness on the environmental and public health consequences related to incorrect disposal of drugs. Some isolated initiatives arise around the country presenting solutions to the problem, and offering structure and information for proper disposal. There is still no effective national legislation in Brazil on the subject hence states launch laws regulating the problem in their own territory. In the state of Ceará the law 15192 was enacted in 2012 forcing pharmacies, drugstores and drug distributors to collect the populations disposed drug, but due to local conditions, has not yet been fully met. With the intensification of discussions about particular initiatives and local laws, with the involvement of various segments of society and the exchange of experiences of running programs, it is possible to boost projects in areas where the population has no opportunity to give the correct destination for unused medicines. This article brings to the discussion the occurrence of drug waste in the environment, issues related to advances in Brazilian legislation regarding management of drug waste, proposals for implantation of drug collecting programs in the country and some of its challenges...