Research Article
Year 2023,
Volume: 27 Issue: 6, 2362 - 2373, 28.06.2025
Abstract
Medicine wastage has become a concern to the nation due to the detrimental impacts that it brings to the economy and environment. Therefore, this study aims to provide an overview of the various waste-minimizing activities performed by government pharmacists and pharmacy technicians A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted from February 2022 until April 2022. The data was collected through the snowball sampling method from the respondents via online platforms. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of 4 segments was used. A total of 76 pharmacy personnel participated in this study. More than half of the participants carried out a variety of activities to reduce medicine waste throughout the stages of the medicine supply chain. 40.8% of the participants reported that prescribers could adjust and optimize the prescribed doses for patients, and 30.3% reported pharmacists would counsel the physicians on efficient prescribing practice. The respondents considered activities in the dispensing stage, particularly those associated with the pharmacy organization, the most attainable to be executed as a regular practice, whereas approaches in the prescribing phase are the most important in minimizing medication waste. Conclusion: Overall, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have carried out a variety of activities to reduce medicine waste throughout the stages of the medicine supply chain, though other potential activities have yet to be undertaken in government pharmacies. The participants acknowledged the importance of the activities to reduce wastage; however, the feasibility of the interventions for implementation as a standard practice is still questioned.
References
- [1] West LM, Diack L, Cordina M, Stewart D. A systematic review of the literature on 'medication wastage': an exploration of causative factors and effect of interventions. Int J Clin Pharm. 2014;36(5):873-881. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-014-9981-2.
- [2] Smale EM, Egberts TCG, Heerdink ER, van den Bemt BJF, Bekker CL. Waste-minimising measures to achieve sustainable supply and use of medication. Sustain Chem Pharm. 2021;20:100400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scp.2021.100400.
- [3] Gebremariam ET, Gebregeorgise DT, Fenta TG. Factors contributing to medicines wastage in public health facilities of South West Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia: A qualitative study. J Pharm Policy Pract. 2019;12(1):1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40545-019-0192-z.
- [4] Kagashe GA, Makenya FB, Buma D. Medicines wastage at a tertiary hospital in Dar es Salaam Tanzania. J Appl Pharm Sci. 2014;4(6):98-102. https://doi.org/10.7324/JAPS.2014.40615.
- [5] Management Sciences for Health. Health system in action: An e Handbook for leaders and managers. Management Sciences for Health; 2010. [Online]. Available: https://www.msh.org/sites/msh.org/files/msh_ehandbook_complete.pdf (accessed June 18, 2023).
- [6] Law AV, Sakharkar P, Zargarzadeh A, Tai BW, Hess K, Hata M, Mireles R, Ha C, Park TJ. Taking stock of medication wastage: Unused medications in US households. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2015;11(4):571-578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2014.10.003.
- [7] Trueman, Paul, D. G. Taylor, K. Lowson, A. Bligh, A. Meszaros, Dianne Wright, Julie Glanville. "Evaluation of the scale, causes and costs of waste medicines. Report of DH funded national project." (2010). Available online: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1350234/1/Evaluation_of_NHS_Medicines_Waste__web_publication_version.pdf (accessed June 18, 2023).
- [8] Bouvy M, Van’t Land R, Meulepas M, Smeenk IW. Waste of Medicines: Situation in 2004. DGV, Dutch Institute for Rational Use of Medicine; 2006.
- [9] Kifli N, See WW, Chaw LL. The extent of medicine wastages in a tertiary hospital in Brunei: 10 years' retrospective study from 2006 to 2016. Asian J Pharm Clin Res. 2018;11(7):328-332. https://doi.org/10.22159/ajpcr.2018.v11i7.24789.
- [10] Kusturica MP, Tomas A, Sabo A. Disposal of unused drugs: Knowledge and behavior among people around the world. Rev Environ Contam Toxicol. 2017;240:71-104. https://doi.org/10.1007/398_2016_3.
- [11] Umar KW, Ismail NF, Hardifadhillah MHS, Ming LC, Kifli N, Goh HP. Pharmacy Education, Practice, and Research in Brunei Darussalam. In: Handbook of Medical and Health Sciences in Developing Countries. Springer; 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/398_2016_310.1007/978-3-030-74786-2.
- [12] Khandelwal N, Duncan I, Ahmed T, Rubinstein E, Pegus C. Oral chemotherapy program improves adherence and reduces medication wastage and hospital admissions. J Natl Compr Cancer Netw. 2012;10(5):618-625. https://doi.org/10.1007/398_2016_310.6004/jnccn.2012.0063.
- [13] Maeng DD, Tom LA, Wright EA. Patient characteristics and healthcare utilization patterns associated with unused medications among Medicare patients. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2017;13(6):1090-1094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2016.11.003.
- [14] Doble B, Payne R, Harshfield A, Wilson ECF. Retrospective, multicohort analysis of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) to determine differences in the cost of medication wastage, dispensing fees and prescriber time of issuing either short (<60 days) or long (≥60 days) prescription length. BMJ Open. 2017 Dec 4;7(12):e019382. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019382.
- [15] Miani C, Martin A, Exley J, Doble B, Wilson E, Payne R, Avery A, Meads C, Kirtley A, Jones MM, King S. Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of issuing longer versus shorter duration (3-month vs. 28-day) prescriptions in patients with chronic conditions: Systematic review and economic modelling. Health Technol Assess. 2017;21(78):1-128. https://doi.org/10.3310/hta21780.
- [16] Alhomoud F. 'Don't let medicines go to waste'—A survey-based cross-sectional study of pharmacists' waste-reducing activities across Gulf Cooperation Council Countries. Front Pharmacol. 2020;11:1334. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.01334.
- [17] Bekker CL, Gardarsdottir H, Egberts A, Bouvy M, van den Bemt B. Pharmacists' activities to reduce medication waste: An international survey. Pharmacy. 2018;6(3):94. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy6030094.
- [18] Insani WN, Qonita NA, Jannah SS, Nuraliyah NM, Supadmi W, Gatera VA, Alfian SD, Abdulah R. Improper disposal practice of unused and expired pharmaceutical products in Indonesian households. Heliyon. 2020;6(7):e04551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04551.
- [19] Abou-Auda HS. An economic assessment of the extent of medication use and wastage among families in Saudi Arabia and Arabian. East Mediterr Health J. 2003;25(4):1276-1292. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0149-2918(03)80083-8.
- [20] Torjesen I. Costs of some drugs will be displayed on packs to try to reduce waste and improve adherence. BMJ. 2015; 351:h3637. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h3637.
- [21] Baqir W, Hughes J, Jones T, Barrett S, Desai N, Copeland R, Campbell D, Laverty A. Impact of medication review, within a shared decision-making framework, on deprescribing in people living in care homes. Eur J Hosp Pharm. 2017;24(1):30-33. https://doi.org/10.1136/ejhpharm-2016-000900.
- [22] van Herpen-Meeuwissen LJM, van den Bemt BJF, Derijks HJ, van den Bemt PMLA, de Vries F, Maat B, van Onzenoort HAW. Economic impact of Patient's Own Medication use during hospitalisation: a multicentre pre-post implementation study. Int J Clin Pharm. 2019;41(6):1658-1665. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-019-00932-1.
- [23] James T, Helms M, Braund R. Analysis of medications returned to community pharmacies. Ann Pharmacother. 2009;43:1631-1635.
- [24] Langley C, Marriott J, Mackridge A, Daniszewski R. An analysis of returned medicines in primary care. Pharm World Sci. 2005;27:296-299.
- [25] Mackridge AJ, Marriott JF. Returned medicines: Waste or a wasted opportunity? J Public Health (Bangkok). 2007;29(3):258-262. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdm037.
- [26] Coma A, Modamio P, Lastra C, Bouvy M, Marino E. Returned medicines in community pharmacies of Barcelona, Spain. Pharm World Sci. 2008;30:272-277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-008-9183-5.
- [27] Guirguis K. Medications collected for disposal by outreach pharmacists in Australia. Pharm World Sci. 2010;32:52-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-009-9340-x.
- [28] Bekker CL, Gardarsdottir H, Egberts ACG, Molenaar HA, Bouvy ML, van den Bemt BJF, Hövels AM. What does it cost to redispense unused medications in the pharmacy? A micro-costing study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2019;19(1):243. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4065-6.
- [29] Toh MR, Chew L. Turning waste medicines to cost savings: A pilot study on the feasibility of medication recycling as a solution to drug wastage. Palliat Med. 2017;31(1):35-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216316639798.
- [30] Hui TKL, Donyai P, McCrindle R, Sherratt RS. Enabling medicine re-use using a digital time temperature humidity sensor in an internet of pharmaceutical things concept. Sensors. 2020;20:3080. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20113080.
- [31] World Health Organization. Guidelines for Medicine Donations. 3rd ed. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2011.
- [32] Raosoft Inc. Sample Size Calculator. [Online]. Available: http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html (accessed June 18, 2023).
- [33] Lillis T, Curry MJ. Academic writing in a global context: The politics and practices of publishing in English. Routledge; 2010.
- [34] López-Navarro I, Moreno AI, Quintanilla MA, Rey-Rocha J. Why do I publish research articles in English instead of my own language? Differences in Spanish researchers' motivations across scientific domains. Scientometrics. 2015;103(3):939-976. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1570-1.
- [35] R. The R Project for Statistical Computing. [Online]. Available: https://www.r-project.org/ (accessed June 18, 2023).
- [36] Microsoft Office 2019|Microsoft 365. [Online]. Available: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/get-started-withoffice-2019 (accessed June 18, 2023).
There are 36 citations in total.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Other) |
| Journal Section | Articles |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | June 28, 2025 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023 Volume: 27 Issue: 6 |