Disposal Methods of Expired and Unused Medications among the General Public in Al-Bayda City

Medication disposal is a hot topic in pharmacy today, and it is rapidly gaining the attention of more and more professionals and consumers alike. Improper disposal of expired or unused medications has been reported to create serious consequences on healthcare and the environment. This study was per...

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Main Authors: Taher I. Mahmod Shailabi, Zuhir S. Mussa Akrim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Omar Al-Mukhtar University 2021-09-01
Series:مجلة المختار للعلوم
Subjects:
Online Access:https://omu.edu.ly/journals/index.php/mjsc/article/view/337
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author Taher I. Mahmod Shailabi
Zuhir S. Mussa Akrim
author_facet Taher I. Mahmod Shailabi
Zuhir S. Mussa Akrim
author_sort Taher I. Mahmod Shailabi
collection DOAJ
description Medication disposal is a hot topic in pharmacy today, and it is rapidly gaining the attention of more and more professionals and consumers alike. Improper disposal of expired or unused medications has been reported to create serious consequences on healthcare and the environment. This study was performed to determine how residents of Al-Bayda, in the north-eastern region of Libya, dispose of their unused and expired medications and discuss the possible impact of improper medication disposal on humans, animals, and the environment. Data was collected over six months within Al-Bayda city as people were approached randomly and invited to participate by filling out a questionnaire to examine their expired medicine disposal habits. With responses from 925 participants, the survey found that 77.3 % disposed of medicines with household waste, 6.9 % flushed medicines down the sink or toilet, 4 % gave them to relatives or friends, 2.8 % returned medicines to the pharmacy, and 9 % do not know. Campaigns run by health care professionals, mainly pharmacists as they have a potential role to raise public awareness regarding appropriate ways to dispose of unused medicines, will promote appropriate disposal practices.
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spelling doaj.art-a916717365074d8b8270eb2ccb51d6cc2023-09-03T08:04:45ZengOmar Al-Mukhtar Universityمجلة المختار للعلوم2617-21782617-21862021-09-0136310.54172/mjsc.v36i3.337Disposal Methods of Expired and Unused Medications among the General Public in Al-Bayda CityTaher I. Mahmod Shailabi0Zuhir S. Mussa Akrim1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Omar Almukhtar Univer-sity Al-Bayda, LibyaDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Omar Almukhtar Univer-sity Al-Bayda, Libya Medication disposal is a hot topic in pharmacy today, and it is rapidly gaining the attention of more and more professionals and consumers alike. Improper disposal of expired or unused medications has been reported to create serious consequences on healthcare and the environment. This study was performed to determine how residents of Al-Bayda, in the north-eastern region of Libya, dispose of their unused and expired medications and discuss the possible impact of improper medication disposal on humans, animals, and the environment. Data was collected over six months within Al-Bayda city as people were approached randomly and invited to participate by filling out a questionnaire to examine their expired medicine disposal habits. With responses from 925 participants, the survey found that 77.3 % disposed of medicines with household waste, 6.9 % flushed medicines down the sink or toilet, 4 % gave them to relatives or friends, 2.8 % returned medicines to the pharmacy, and 9 % do not know. Campaigns run by health care professionals, mainly pharmacists as they have a potential role to raise public awareness regarding appropriate ways to dispose of unused medicines, will promote appropriate disposal practices. https://omu.edu.ly/journals/index.php/mjsc/article/view/337Safe DisposalAl-BaydaLibyaPharmacistsReturn Unwanted or Expired Medicines
spellingShingle Taher I. Mahmod Shailabi
Zuhir S. Mussa Akrim
Disposal Methods of Expired and Unused Medications among the General Public in Al-Bayda City
مجلة المختار للعلوم
Safe Disposal
Al-Bayda
Libya
Pharmacists
Return Unwanted or Expired Medicines
title Disposal Methods of Expired and Unused Medications among the General Public in Al-Bayda City
title_full Disposal Methods of Expired and Unused Medications among the General Public in Al-Bayda City
title_fullStr Disposal Methods of Expired and Unused Medications among the General Public in Al-Bayda City
title_full_unstemmed Disposal Methods of Expired and Unused Medications among the General Public in Al-Bayda City
title_short Disposal Methods of Expired and Unused Medications among the General Public in Al-Bayda City
title_sort disposal methods of expired and unused medications among the general public in al bayda city
topic Safe Disposal
Al-Bayda
Libya
Pharmacists
Return Unwanted or Expired Medicines
url https://omu.edu.ly/journals/index.php/mjsc/article/view/337
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