Factors Influencing Public Willingness to Reuse the Unused Stored Medications in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The reissuing, redispensing, redistributing, or even recycling of the returned unused stored medicines is referred to as medicine reuse. A few studies have examined people's willingness to reuse unused stored medicines. This study aims primarily to explore the public's willingness to reuse unused stored medicines in the future and the factors affecting their decisions, and to assess the pharmacological types and formulations of the unused stored medicines by the public. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenient sampling technique over three weeks (February-March 2022) among Jordanian populations. Data were collected from 681 participants who agreed to fill out a questionnaire, which was distributed online. Participants showed a positive perception of reusing any of the unused stored medicines in the future; of those, 79.6% (n = 400) believed that reusing "unused medicines" has economic benefits and 50% (n = 251) believe there are environmental benefits. Moreover, more than half of the participants believed that reusing "unused medicines" is safe (n = 256, 51%), but provided that a pharmacist or a doctor evaluates their quality or that the unused medicines are stored well. Results from this study show that the public positively endorses the idea of reusing unused stored medicines if the quality and safety are assured. However, future studies are needed to evaluate the Jordanian healthcare professionals' perceptions towards medicine reuse and pharmaceutical companies' willingness to be a part or facilitator of medicine reuse.

Public Attitudes towards Medicinal Waste and Medicines Reuse in a 'Free Prescription' Healthcare System.

This study investigates public attitudes towards medicinal waste and medicines reuse within a 'free prescription' healthcare system. A quantitative online survey was employed in a sample drawn from the population of Wales, where prescription medicines have been 'free' since 2007. Qualitative interviews informed the content of the attitude statements with categorical or ordinal response options assigned. The questionnaire was hosted on the HealthWise Wales platform for 1 year from October 2017. Of the 5584 respondents, 67.2% had at least one medicine on repeat prescription. Overall, 89.1% held strong concerns about medicinal waste. High acceptance for the reuse of prescription medicines which have been returned unused by patients to pharmacies was reported for tablets (78.7%) and capsules (75.1%) if the medicine is checked by a pharmacist first (92.4% rated essential). Concerns identified related to tampering of packs (69.2%) and the need for hygienic storage (65.4%). However, those working in healthcare had less concern about the safety of reusing medicines. The level of public acceptance for the reuse of medication was higher than previously reported. This is the largest survey to capture these views to date, which has implications for the future design of medicines reuse schemes.

A Survey On Household Storage Of Medicines In Punjab, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Household storage of medicines is a world-wide practice that triggers the irrational use of medicines and consequent threats. The purpose of this research is to explore sources of medicines availability, utilization and reasons of medicines storage in household.. METHODS: A community-based survey was performed on 900 households in five districts of Punjab, Pakistan from 1st February to 2nd March, 2016. Data was collected through employing a pretested questionnaire, the World Health Organization (WHO) operational package (for assessing, monitoring and evaluating country pharmaceutical situations Level IIb), and analysed by SPSS-23. RESULTS: A mean of 2.94 medicines per household were observed in 900 households visited with 2,648 of total medicines found. Significant number of medicines was analgesics (58.6%) and antibiotics (12.97%). Out of total, 20.4% of household medicines were for current treatments. Left over medicines from past treatments were 8.7%, and 70.9% were anticipated for future use. Household medicines existed in the form of oral tablets, were 89%. Household medicines of 91.2%, were satisfactorily labelled in acute cases and majority were obtained from private pharmacies. Household medicines of 80% were acquired by respondents with post-graduation qualification and 61.2% of the medicines were obtained by respondents with no formal education and in both cases source of medicines was private pharmacies. While overall, 61.5% of respondents took medicines from the private pharmacy. In general, patients got 3.4% of medicines from the primary healthcare facilities. Adherence to medical treatment was very poor. In chronic cases 35.7% of patients left treatment when symptoms improved, while in acute cases 41.1% of the patients showed non-adherence to the treatment. Patients who knew about use of medicines were 92.32%. CONCLUSIONS: Maximum medicines stored were for the future use. The main source of medicines found in households was private pharmacies. Antibiotics and analgesic were in common in use. Patient's nonadherence to the treatment was one of the reasons of presence of medicines at home.

The medicines refrigerator and the importance of the cold chain in the safe storage of medicines.

The medicines refrigerator is a common piece of equipment found in clinical areas. It is used to ensure specific medicines are safely stored within a narrow temperature range in line with manufacturers' instructions; this is usually between +2˚C and +8˚C, and ideally +5˚C. Drugs stored in the medicines refrigerator include: vaccines; insulin; chemotherapy drugs; topical preparations, such as some types of eye drops; and other treatments such as glucagon, which is used to manage severe hypoglycaemia. This article reviews the function of the medicines refrigerator and the checks required by healthcare practitioners to ensure that medicines remain safely stored and their effectiveness is maintained. It also outlines the medicines refrigeration procedure known as the 'cold chain', which includes the use of cold boxes or vaccine carriers to maintain the required temperature of medicines during transport from the manufacturer to user, or between healthcare departments.