[Monitoring pharmaceutical waste for environmental awareness]
11 Semmelweis Egyetem, Gyógyszerésztudományi Kar, Egyetemi Gyógyszertár, Gyógyszerügyi Szervezési Intézet Budapest, Hőgyes E. u. 7-9., 1092 Magyarország.
Orvosi Hetilap
|April 28, 2024
Summary
Health professionals can guide patients on environmentally friendly medicine disposal. Pharmacies play a key role in educating the public about pharmaceutical waste management and reducing environmental impact.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Public Health
- Pharmaceutical Sciences
Background:
- Drug residues in aquatic environments, such as rivers and lakes, are present at nanogram per litre levels.
- Growing environmental awareness necessitates understanding the role of healthcare professionals in managing pharmaceutical waste.
- Health professionals are crucial in educating patients on proper medicine use and environmentally sound disposal of discarded medications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To monitor pharmaceutical waste within the general population.
- To understand patient adherence to drug therapies and its relation to waste.
- To compare pharmaceutical waste management practices between public and institutional pharmacies.
Main Methods:
- Conducted research using national and international databases.
- Obtained data through requests to organizations like Septox Ltd. (Association for Conscious Use of Medicines).
- Analyzed pharmaceutical waste portfolios using four-digit Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) codes to categorize disposed medicines.
Main Results:
- Characterized pharmaceutical waste by medicine type, packaging status (opened/unopened, with/without secondary packaging), and disposal location (public pharmaceutical waste bins).
- Quantified the proportion of medicines versus non-medicines in public pharmaceutical waste.
- Compared the volume of disposed medicines to the total number of medicines dispensed annually.
Conclusions:
- Pharmacies are vital centers for patient education on environmentally conscious medicine use.
- Collaborative efforts between pharmacies and doctors are essential for implementing action plans to mitigate the environmental impact of dispensed medicines.
- Evidence-based findings should be integrated into preventive health education to enhance public environmental awareness regarding pharmaceuticals.
Keywords:
green pharmacygyógyszerhulladékgyógyszertudatosságkörnyezetbarát gyógyszerészetmedicine awarenesspharmaceutical wasteMore Related Videos
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