If you do not know how to use, store and dispose of your medicine safely and responsibly, your pharmacist is qualified and trained to provide the correct information and advice.
If you do not know how to use, store and dispose of your medicine safely and responsibly, your pharmacist is qualified and trained to provide the correct information and advice.
Acting on the theme for this year’s National Pharmacy week from 7 to 13 September, Rhodes Pharmacy students decided to gather together all old and used medicines.
“In support of the theme, Rhodes University Pharmacy Students Association (Rupsa) embarked on a collection of expired medicines from students residences as part of their community work,” said Yoland Irwin, a lecturer at the Pharmacy Department.
Students were asked to look through their supplies of medicines and check if any had reached their expiry date, or if they had been keeping them for longer than a year since the day they were dispensed.
All the collected medication was handed over to Doug Scott, a chief pharmacist at Settlers Hospital for disposal. Jameel Fakee, the Rupsa chairman said they support the project because they realise that not many people dispose of medicine correctly. Incorrect ways of getting rid of medicine includes flushing it down the toilet, throwing it away with the rubbish or stuffing it down the sink.
Fakee says that there have been cases where medicines end up in the water works and poison the water, or are eaten or used by disadvantaged people who find it in land fills. Therefore everyone is encouraged to dispose of their expired or unused medicines safely by either taking it to their nearest primary health care centre or pharmacy. The hospital or pharmacy then contacts a waste disposal company which incinerates the drugs at a vey high temperature, therefore completely destroying any chemical residue.
“To me any expired medication is a cost burden, I try and keep it under control,” said Scott. The medication received by him and other health officials is recorded and may not be administered or prescribed for another patient, even if it has not expired yet. This is partly due to the confidential information printed on the label of the canister. "When it is brought to me I record it and dispose of it in different bags as it will undergo various treatments in making sure that they are destroyed," Scott says. So far Pharmacy Week activities have included the South African National Blood Services performing blood type tests as well as the Organ Donor Foundation encouraging students to sign up as potential organ donors.
