Bashaar Mohammad, Thawani Vijay, Hassali Mohamed Azmi, Saleem Fahad
Health Policy Analyst, SMART Afghan International Trainings & Consultancy, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Professor of Pharmacology, People's College of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Bhanpur, Bhopal, 462037, India.
BMC Public Health. 2017 Jan 7;17(1):45. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3975-z.
Most of the medicine users remain unaware about the disposal of unused or expired medicines. The aim of this study was to know the disposal practices of unused and expired medicines among the general public in Kabul.
This was a descriptive, cross-sectional survey, conducted through face-to-face interviews using prevalidated structured questionnaire. Returned questionnaires were double-checked for accuracy. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23 was used for statistical analysis.
Total of 301 valid questionnaires were returned with a response rate of 100% in which 73.4% men and 26.6% women participated. More than half of the respondents were university graduates. Interestingly, 83.4% of the interviewees purchased medicines on the prescription of which 47.2% were university graduates, while 14.6% purchased medicine over the counter. Among the respondents, 46.5/100 purchased antibiotics and the remaining purchased NSAIDs, anti-hypertensive and anti-diabetic medicines. Significantly, 97/100 checked the expiry date of medicine before buying. Majority (95.3%) of the respondents' stored medicines at home. 77.7% of the respondents discarded the expired medicines in household trash. Majority of respondents held government responsible for creation of awareness for proper medicine disposal. Almost entire sample (98%) felt that improper disposal of unused and expired medicines can affect the environment and health.
Gaps exist in practices, therefore robust, safe and cost-effective pharmaceutical waste management program supported with media campaign is needed. Healthcare practitioners and community pharmacists should offer training to educate customers on standard medicine disposal practices.
大多数药品使用者仍未意识到未使用或过期药品的处理问题。本研究的目的是了解喀布尔普通民众对未使用和过期药品的处理方式。
这是一项描述性横断面调查，通过使用预先验证的结构化问卷进行面对面访谈。对回收的问卷进行准确性的二次检查。使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）23版进行统计分析。
共回收301份有效问卷，回复率为100%，其中男性占73.4%，女性占26.6%。超过一半的受访者是大学毕业生。有趣的是，83.4%的受访者按处方购药，其中47.2%是大学毕业生，而14.6%的人非处方购药。在受访者中，每100人中有46.5人购买抗生素，其余购买非甾体抗炎药、抗高血压药和抗糖尿病药。值得注意的是，每100人中有97人在购买前检查药品的有效期。大多数（95.3%）受访者在家中储存药品。77.7%的受访者将过期药品丢弃在家庭垃圾中。大多数受访者认为政府有责任提高对正确处理药品的认识。几乎整个样本（98%）都认为不当处理未使用和过期药品会影响环境和健康。
在处理方式上存在差距，因此需要一个强有力的、安全且具有成本效益的药品废物管理计划，并辅以媒体宣传活动。医疗从业者和社区药剂师应提供培训，以教育客户有关标准的药品处理方法。
