Pharmaceutical Waste Management Practices in Pharmacies and Medicine Stores: Evidence from Bamenda Health District, Cameroon.

Authors

  • Lanyuy Gillian Dzekashu
  • Jane Francis Akoachere
  • Wilfred Fon Mbacham

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47672/ejhs.846

Keywords:

Pharmaceutical waste, management, pharmacy, medicine store and Bamenda.

Abstract

Introduction: The steep growth in the pharmaceutical industry over the last several decades has led not only to more medications in markets, but also to significant environmental and public health hazards when these drugs are not properly disposed. More than 3,000 active pharmaceutical substances are being administered worldwide in prescription medicines, over-the-counter therapeutic drugs, and veterinary drugs. Their active ingredients comprise a variety of synthetic chemicals produced by pharmaceutical companies in both the industrialized and the developing world at a rate of 100,000 tons per year. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) accounts for an estimated 700,000 deaths per year worldwide. Over 23 million people have been tested with the aid of swab sticks for the novel Corona virus disease-19(Covid-19) in many parts of the world. This paints a gloomy picture on the quantum of pharmaceuticals that would have been used and eventually disposed.

Purpose: This study explored and described pharmaceutical waste management practices by pharmacies and medicine stores operating in Bamenda Health District of the North West Region of Cameroon.

Methodology: A mixed research design (Exploratory and Descriptive) was used. The study was cross-sectional. Exponential non-discriminative snowball sampling was used to identify 187 medicine stores while an official list from the Bamenda Health District of the NWR of Cameroon was sought to identify 13 pharmacies. Structured closed ended questionnaires and unstructured oral interviews were used to collect primary data. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the data while inferential statistics was used to test statistical significance.

Results: In addition to sale of drugs, medicine stores offered services such as consultation, wound dressing, injection administration, laboratory tests, Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs). Pharmacies carried out solely the sale of drugs. There was a statistically significant difference in pharmaceutical waste management practices between pharmacies and medicine stores.

Unique contribution to policy: Incentives in the form of financial reimbursements, tax cuts or tax holidays could be offered by the state to licensed drug dispensers who comply with national guidelines on sale of drug and pharmaceutical waste management.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Lanyuy Gillian Dzekashu

Department of Health Economics Policy and Management, Catholic University of Cameroon-Bamenda, Cameroon.

Ministry of Secondary Education, Cameroon

Jane Francis Akoachere

Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, Cameroon.

Wilfred Fon Mbacham

Department of Health Economics Policy and Management, Catholic University of Cameroon-Bamenda, Cameroon.

University of Yaounde I, Public Health Biotechnology, Cameroon.

References

Alghadeer, S and Al-Arifi, M N. (2021). Community Pharmacists' Practice, Awareness, and Beliefs about Drug Disposal in Saudi Arabia. Healthcare, 9(823):1-7. doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9070823.

Alrawi, A S., Amin, S A., Al-Ani, R R. (2021). Medical waste management during COVID-19 pandemic, a review study. IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 779: 1-11. doi:10.1088/1755-1315/779/1/01213

Babanyara, Y Y., Ibrahim, D B., Garba, T., Bogoro, A G., Abubakar, M Y. (2013). Poor Medical Waste Management (MWM) Practices and Its Risks to Human Health and the Environment: A Literature Review. International Journal of Environmental, Chemical, Ecological, Geological and Geophysical Engineering, 7 (11): 538-545.

Begum, M., Rivu, S F., Hasan, M A., Nova, T T., Rahman, M., Alim, A., Uddin, S., Islam, A., Nurnahar, Tabassum, N., Moni, M R., Roselin, R., Das, M., Begum, R., And Rahman, S. (2021).Disposal Practices of Unused and Leftover Medicines in the Households of Dhaka Metropolis. Pharmacy, 9 (10) doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy9020103

Beek, T.A, Frank-Andreas, W., Axel, B. (2016). Pharmaceuticals in the environment: Global occurrence and potential cooperative action under the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). TEXTE 67/2016. German Environment Agency. Pp 1-96.

Bruno, J., Eaton, S., Hemingway, J and Towle, E. (2016). Pharmaceutical Waste Disposal: Current Practices in Tirana, Albania. An Interactive Qualifying Project Report submitted to the Faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. pp 1-47.

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2020). Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Cases, data and surveillance. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/testing-in-us.html.

Chartier, Y., Emmanuel, J., Pieper, Prüss, A., Rushbrook, P., Stringer, R., Townend, W., Wilburn, S., and Zghondi R. (2014). Safe management of wastes from health-care activities. Second edition. WHO

Chisholm, J M., Zamani, R., Abdelazim, M N., Said, N., Daiem, MM., Dibaj, M and Akrami, M. (2021). Sustainable waste management of medical waste in African developing countries: A narrative review. Waste Management & Research, pp1-15. doi: 10.1177/0734242X211029175

Costel, B., Dan, S., Angela, R., Larisa, B., Ecaterina, C., and Maria-Elena C. (2021). The Implications and Effects of Medical Waste on Development of Sustainable Society: A Brief Review of the Literature. Sustainability, 13: 2-13. doi.org/10.3390/su13063300

Ejeromedoghene. O., Nwosisi, M., Tesi, G., Noragbon, E., and Akinyeye R O. (2021). Impact of Pharmaceutical Waste Generation and Handling on Environmental Health in Developing Countries: COVID - 19 Pandemic in Perspective! J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage, 25 (3):385-396. doi.org/10.4314/jasem.v25i3.12

Ferronato, N., and Torretta, V. (2019). Waste Mismanagement in Developing Countries: A Review of Global Issues. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 16, 1060:1-28. doi:10.3390/ijerph16061060

Freitas, L A., and Radis-Baptista, G. (2021). Pharmaceutical Pollution and Disposal of Expired, Unused, and Unwanted Medicines in the Brazilian Context. J. Xenobiot, 11: 61-76. doi.org/10.3390/jox11020005

GEEST, S V. (1983). Propharmacies: A Problematic Means of Drug Distribution in Rural Cameroon. Tropical Doctor. 13: 9-13. doi: 10.1177/004947558301300105

Gupta, R., Gupta, B M., Gupta, A. (2019). A study on awareness regarding disposal of unused medicines among consumers at a tertiary care teaching hospital of North India. Int J Adv Med, 6(1):91-95. doi.org/10.18203/2349-3933.ijam20190111

Hughes, R., Chandler, C., Mangham-Jefferies, L., and Mbacham, W. (2012). Medicine sellers' perspectives on their role in providing health care in North-West Cameroon: a qualitative study. Health Policy and Planning, 28:636-646 doi:10.1093/heapol/czs103

Iosue, S. (2020). Comparative Study of Pharmaceutical Waste Disposal in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. PSA Transforming The Supply Chain.pp 1- 59.

Jaseem, M., Kumar, P and John, R M. (2017). An overview of waste management in pharmaceutical industry. The Pharma Innovation Journal 2017, 6(3):158-161.

Kadam, A., Patil, S., Patil, S., Tumkur, A. (2016). Pharmaceutical Waste Management An Overview. Indian Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 9 (1): 1-7. dio:10.5530/ijopp.9.1.2

Kamba, P F., Ireeta, M E., Balikuna,S., &Kaggwa, B. (2017). Threats posed by stockpiles of expired pharmaceuticals in low- and middle-income countries: a Ugandan perspective. Policy & practice, Bull World Health Organ, 95:594-598. doi.org/10.2471/BLT.16.186650

Khobragade, D S. (2019). Health Care Waste: Avoiding Hazards to Living and Non Living Environment by Efficient Management. Review Article. Fortune J Health Sci, 2 (2): 014-029 doi: 10.26502/fjhs007

Lubick, N. (2010). Drugs in the Environment: Do Pharmaceutical Take-Back Programs Make a Difference? Sheres of influence. Environmental Health Perspectives, 118 (5): 212-214.

Manga, V E., Fortonb, O T. and Readd, A D. (2008). Waste Management In Cameroon: A New Policy Perspective? Resources, Conservation And Recycling, 52: 592-600.

Manga, V E., Forton, O T., Mofor, L A., Woodard, R. (2011): Health care waste management in Cameroon: A case study from the South western Region. Resources Conservation and Recycling, 57:108-116. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2011.10.002

Michael, I., Ogbonna, B., Sunday, N.,Anetoh, M., and Matthew, O. (2019). Assessment of disposal practices of expired and unused medications among community pharmacies in Anambra State southeast Nigeria: a mixed study design. Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, 12 (12):1-10. doi.org/10.1186/s40545-019-0174-1

National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases. (2021). A call to action: An evidence review on pharmaceutical disposal in the context of antimicrobial resistance in Canada. pp 1-41.

Ntembe, A N. User charges and health care provider choice in Cameroon. International Review of Business Research Papers, 5(6):33-49.

Nyagah, D M., Njagi, A., Nyaga, M N. (2020). Pharmaceutical waste: overview, management and impact of improper disposal. PeerScientist, 3(2): e1000028.

Ojong,N. (2020). The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Pathology of the Economic and Political Architecture in Cameroon. Healthcare, 8 (176):1-16 doi:10.3390/healthcare8020176

Oladimeji-Salami, J A., Lawal, F T.,Ajasa, O., Afolayan, G O., Akindele, AJ., Olayemi, SO., Adeyemi, O O. (2017). Evaluation of knowledge and practice of pharmaceutical waste disposal in hospitals and pharmacies within Lagos State, Nigeria. Nig. Quart. J. Hosp. Med. 27(2): 749-757.

Pharmacy and Poisons Board. Guidelines for the safe management of pharmaceutical waste. (2018). Republic of Kenya- Ministry of Health, Pharmacy and Poisons Board, Nairobi. PPB/GDP/INSP/XXXX.1 : 1-21

Sophia, I. (2020). Pharmaceutical Waste Disposal in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. 1-59.

Sultan, A., and Mohammed, N A. (2021).Community Pharmacists' Practice, Awareness, and Beliefsabout Drug Disposal in Saudi Arabia. Healthcare, 9 (823): 1-7. doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9070823

Swaroop, H S., Charaborty, A., Virupakshaiah, A. (2015). Knowledge, attitude and practice of medical professionals towards the safe disposal of unused medications in South India. World J Pharm PharmSci, 4(5):1423-30

WHO. (2017). Safe management of waste from healthcare activities - A Summary. http://www.euro.who/int

WHO. (2018). https://www.who.int

WHO Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations Fifty-fourth report. (2020). WHO Technical Report Series, No. 1025, 143-156.

Downloads

Published

2021-11-16

How to Cite

Dzekashu, L. ., Akoachere, J. ., & Mbacham, W. . (2021). Pharmaceutical Waste Management Practices in Pharmacies and Medicine Stores: Evidence from Bamenda Health District, Cameroon. European Journal of Health Sciences, 6(4), 14–32. https://doi.org/10.47672/ejhs.846

Issue

Section

Articles