Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
Waste Manag Res. 2022 Oct;40(10):1539-1545. doi: 10.1177/0734242X221084060. Epub 2022 Mar 17.
Improper and unsafe disposal of expired and unwanted medicines could cause harm to both people and the environment and therefore it is of public health importance. The objective of the study was to determine the methods employed by community pharmacist and their clients in the disposal of unwanted and expired medicines. Furthermore, the role of the pharmacists in the assessment of clients left over medicines was also explored. A cross sectional study design was employed with a sample of 120 pharmacy staff and 200 clients. Semi structured questionnaires were developed and administered to the two groups. Ethical approval was obtained. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v.24). Two hundred and eighty medicines were assessed from 131 respondents (65.5%) who brought their unused or left-over medicines to the pharmacy. These included analgesics 102(36.4%), antibiotics 50 (17.9%) and antacids 22 (7.9%). Disposal of expired and left-over medicines cited by respondents were the general-purpose bin 58(77.0%) and down the sink 11(14.3%). The majority 99(82.9%) of community pharmacies also disposed of solid dosage forms through the general-purpose bin. In addition, 90(75%) community pharmacies disposed of liquid waste in general purpose bin. Lack of enforcement of legislation was cited by community pharmacy staff as a barrier to the proper disposal of pharmaceutical waste. The predominant method of disposal of expired/unwanted medicines by community pharmacies and their clients was via the general-purpose bin. Implementation of interventions such as take back programmes that will enhance proper disposal of expired and left over medicines should be initiated.
过期和不需要的药品处理不当和不安全，可能会对人和环境造成伤害，因此这对公共卫生很重要。本研究的目的是确定社区药剂师及其客户处理不需要和过期药品的方法。此外，还探讨了药剂师在评估客户剩余药品方面的作用。采用横断面研究设计，样本包括 120 名药剂师和 200 名客户。为这两组人员分别开发并提供了半结构式问卷。获得了伦理批准。使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS v.24）分析收集的数据。从 131 名（65.5%）将未使用或剩余药品带到药店的受访者中评估了 280 种药品。其中包括 102 种镇痛药（36.4%）、50 种抗生素（17.9%）和 22 种抗酸剂（7.9%）。受访者提到过期和剩余药品的处理方法是一般用途垃圾桶 58 次（77.0%）和水槽 11 次（14.3%）。大多数社区药房（99%，82.9%）还通过一般用途垃圾桶处理固体制剂。此外，90%（75%）的社区药房将液体废物放入一般用途垃圾桶。社区药剂师将执法不力作为适当处理药物废物的障碍。社区药房及其客户处理过期/不需要的药品的主要方法是通过一般用途垃圾桶。应启动采取回收计划等干预措施，以加强对过期和剩余药品的适当处理。
