The disposal of unwanted and expired medications has been a concern to public health practitioners, and patients alike. The objective of the current investigation was to look closely at the practice of patients and ca...The disposal of unwanted and expired medications has been a concern to public health practitioners, and patients alike. The objective of the current investigation was to look closely at the practice of patients and carers in Nablus-Palestine with regard to disposal of unused or expired medicines. The study was a cross-sectional survey administered via face-to-face structured interviews with randomly selected patients, community pharmacists and physicians from Nablus-Palestine. Two hundred and fifty patients/carers completed a questionnaire regarding medicines disposal current practice, effects on environment, and their views to overcome this problem. Most of the people completing the questionnaire （67%） stated that they throw unwanted medicines in the normal household bins, and about 75% think that this can impose illegal and environmental hazards. Nearly half of the questionnaire showed that main reason for need to dispose medicines was possessing expired ones with almost believe there should be more appropriate way to dispose medicines. About 95% said they have not been directed for safe disposal of medicines with 46% thinking that a national campaign can be very educative in this issue mainly through Ministry of Health （54%） followed by .73% of the sampled patients were in favor of national campaign to direct people to safe disposal of medicines. This pilot study in Nablus clearly highlights the need for appropriate method for safe disposal of medicines in Palestine through guidelines in pharmacies and hospitals. A well organized method for collecting unwanted medicines from people should be encouraged through appropriate teaching of patients and caters about effects of waste medicines on environment as well as being domestic hazard. The data and information is valuable for furthering discussions regarding patients behaviour and also provides a basis for future research into determining what quantities of active pharmaceutical ingredients （APIs） are disposed, enter the environment and what effects it can impose.展开更多
Background: The disposal of unused and expired medications has been a concern in many countries in that, the pharmaceutical waste enters the ecosystem and eventually causes a negative impact on human health and enviro...Background: The disposal of unused and expired medications has been a concern in many countries in that, the pharmaceutical waste enters the ecosystem and eventually causes a negative impact on human health and environment. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and disposal practices of unused and expired medicines by students in the private medical universities in Lusaka of Zambia. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted over a period of 8 weeks among 391 respondents from three private universities in Lusaka. Respondents were polled using semi structured questions that focused on their knowledge, attitudes, and disposal practices for unused and expired drugs. In order to analyze data, the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20 was utilized. Results: The mean age of the participants was 23 years (SD: ±3). Out of the 391 participants, 320 (81.8%) knew about medicine waste and 391 (100.0%) responded that unsafe disposal of unused and expired medicine poses a threat to human health and can harm the environment. The drug-take-back system was unknown to a vast percentage of the respondent 371 (94.9%). The majority 274 (70.1%) of respondents had unused medicine stored at home, with antibiotics 215 (56.0%) and analgesia 111 (28.4%) being the most prevalent types of drugs kept in the households. The most commonly used disposal practice for unused 126 (32.2%) and expired medicines 274 (70.1%) was throwing them in household garbage. Only 27 (6.9%) and 30 (7.7%) reported returning unused and expired medicines to the nearest pharmacy respectively. The majority of respondents believed the risk stemmed from the presence of an undesired drug in the home, the potential for harm to children, a lack of proper information on safe disposal practices, and the necessity for a take-back program. Conclusions: The majority of the study participants used unsafe methods to dispose of unused and expired medicine. However, most of the participants acknowledged that unsafe disposal of unused and expired medicines is a public health problem and proposed the need to introduce drug take-back programs in the communities.展开更多
文摘The disposal of unwanted and expired medications has been a concern to public health practitioners, and patients alike. The objective of the current investigation was to look closely at the practice of patients and carers in Nablus-Palestine with regard to disposal of unused or expired medicines. The study was a cross-sectional survey administered via face-to-face structured interviews with randomly selected patients, community pharmacists and physicians from Nablus-Palestine. Two hundred and fifty patients/carers completed a questionnaire regarding medicines disposal current practice, effects on environment, and their views to overcome this problem. Most of the people completing the questionnaire （67%） stated that they throw unwanted medicines in the normal household bins, and about 75% think that this can impose illegal and environmental hazards. Nearly half of the questionnaire showed that main reason for need to dispose medicines was possessing expired ones with almost believe there should be more appropriate way to dispose medicines. About 95% said they have not been directed for safe disposal of medicines with 46% thinking that a national campaign can be very educative in this issue mainly through Ministry of Health （54%） followed by .73% of the sampled patients were in favor of national campaign to direct people to safe disposal of medicines. This pilot study in Nablus clearly highlights the need for appropriate method for safe disposal of medicines in Palestine through guidelines in pharmacies and hospitals. A well organized method for collecting unwanted medicines from people should be encouraged through appropriate teaching of patients and caters about effects of waste medicines on environment as well as being domestic hazard. The data and information is valuable for furthering discussions regarding patients behaviour and also provides a basis for future research into determining what quantities of active pharmaceutical ingredients （APIs） are disposed, enter the environment and what effects it can impose.
文摘Background: The disposal of unused and expired medications has been a concern in many countries in that, the pharmaceutical waste enters the ecosystem and eventually causes a negative impact on human health and environment. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and disposal practices of unused and expired medicines by students in the private medical universities in Lusaka of Zambia. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted over a period of 8 weeks among 391 respondents from three private universities in Lusaka. Respondents were polled using semi structured questions that focused on their knowledge, attitudes, and disposal practices for unused and expired drugs. In order to analyze data, the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20 was utilized. Results: The mean age of the participants was 23 years (SD: ±3). Out of the 391 participants, 320 (81.8%) knew about medicine waste and 391 (100.0%) responded that unsafe disposal of unused and expired medicine poses a threat to human health and can harm the environment. The drug-take-back system was unknown to a vast percentage of the respondent 371 (94.9%). The majority 274 (70.1%) of respondents had unused medicine stored at home, with antibiotics 215 (56.0%) and analgesia 111 (28.4%) being the most prevalent types of drugs kept in the households. The most commonly used disposal practice for unused 126 (32.2%) and expired medicines 274 (70.1%) was throwing them in household garbage. Only 27 (6.9%) and 30 (7.7%) reported returning unused and expired medicines to the nearest pharmacy respectively. The majority of respondents believed the risk stemmed from the presence of an undesired drug in the home, the potential for harm to children, a lack of proper information on safe disposal practices, and the necessity for a take-back program. Conclusions: The majority of the study participants used unsafe methods to dispose of unused and expired medicine. However, most of the participants acknowledged that unsafe disposal of unused and expired medicines is a public health problem and proposed the need to introduce drug take-back programs in the communities.
