RÉSUMÉ
Introduction Unused and expired medicines are potentially toxic substances that should be managed effectively to avoid possible environmental hazards. The absence of well-defined protocols in India regarding the proper disposal of unused, unwanted, and expired medications raises concerns about the potential for accidental poisoning and environmental threats. Consequently, this research was conducted to evaluate the disposal practices of medications within both urban slum households and pharmacies. Methods This questionnaire-based, mixed-method study was conducted among 385 general public residing in urban slums and 10 registered pharmacies in Bhubaneswar city, India, from September 2020 to August 2021. A semi-structured questionnaire was framed to collect data from the households and the pharmacies; key informant interview was carried out among expert members regarding the disposal of expired medicines. Results Results found that 82.1% (316/385) of the study population threw unused drugs in dustbins, whereas only 2.6% (10/385) returned the medicines to the pharmacy. The most common reason for leftover medicine was the stoppage of drugs on symptomatic relief (53.2%, 205/385), followed by changes in prescription by doctors (18%, 69/385). Out of 10 pharmacies, seven pharmacies disposed of expired drugs in general dustbins. Conclusion Our findings indicate that a majority of the participants tend to dispose of medicines in an unsafe manner. Conversely, the responsible disposal of medications is significantly influenced by patient education. Hence, healthcare professionals are better positioned to impart knowledge to the public, fostering awareness about the proper storage and safe disposal of unused, unwanted, and expired medicines.
RÉSUMÉ
Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a serious public health problem worldwide. This study sought to examine the associations of daily average temperature (AT) and relative humidity (ARH) with the percent increase in COVID-19 cases. Methods: Daily confirmed cases and meteorological factors in 38 districts of India were collected between 1st April 2020 to 30th April 2020. Taking a 5-day time lag of average values of the variables and multiple days-samples, we ran multiple models and performed appropriate hypothesis tests to decide the single preferred model for each sample data. Suitable fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) models with cluster-robust standard errors were applied to quantify the district-specific associations of meteorological and other variables with COVID-19 cases. Results: All FE models revealed that every one-degree rise in AT led to a decrease in 3.909 points (on average) in percent increase in COVID-19 cases. All RE models showed that with one unit increase in the malaria annual parasite index, there was a significant increase in 10.835 points (on average) in percent increase in COVID-19 cases. In both FE and RE models, ARH was found to be negatively associated with a percent increase in COVID-19 cases, although in half of these models the association was statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Our results indicate that mean temperature, mean relative humidity, and malaria endemicity might have an essential role in the stability and transmissibility of the 2019 novel coronavirus.