Poison prevention campaign witnessed ‘unrivaled success’
KUWAIT: Kuwait Medicines Information Center at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Kuwait University, organized an awareness campaign with an intent to prevent medication poisoning. The campaign took place from October 31 to November 2, 2019; from 10 am to 10 pm at 360 Mall - Main Atrium.
In this regard, Dr Bedoor Qabazard, The Head of the Campaign at the Faculty of Pharmacy,
Kuwait University, stated: “We are very pleased with the turnout that this campaign has witnessed. We believe in the importance of continuing to raise awareness in the community about how to keep medicines stored safely at home and how to properly handle cases of unintentional medication poisoning and ways to prevent them. This campaign is intended to protect our beloved children first and foremost. In addition, it is aimed to reduce the burden that falls on ER departments in government hospitals, which have recently witnessed an increasing number of cases with unintentional poisonings among children.”
In this context, Dr Bedoor Qabazard, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and the Head of the Campaign at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Kuwait University Kuwait Medicines Information Center - (KU- MIC) and the Kuwaiti Board of Pediatricians have joined forces to implement this campaign, which aims to educate the community about the hazardous of unintentional medication poisoning among children in Kuwait. Also, it aims to detect the common mistakes that cause poisoning. As well as, it highlights the symptoms of medication poisoning and the steps that must be followed to prevent such critical situations from happening.
In this regard, the campaign coordinator and volunteer Dr Eman Abahussain said: “The campaign was a great success as more than 1,000 parents visited the site during the three days with their children, in which there was great interaction among the visitors with the pharmacists and doctors, where they were able to ask questions and shared life stories of medication poisoning incidents. Also, it is noteworthy that the number of volunteers participating in the provision of the awareness campaign and training during the three days reached 109 volunteers from students of the Faculty of Pharmacy, pharmacists, and Kuwaiti Board of Pediatricians from the Ministry of Health.”
Abahussain then added: “It is necessary to continue these awareness campaigns for the parents, in order not to shed the light on the hazards of leaving medicines and chemicals at the disposal of children and to avoid stacking medicines at the home. However, these awareness campaigns are inadequate unless civil society organizations have an active role in addressing childcare issues from the neglect that causes medication poisoning incidents. Furthermore, mechanisms of dispensing medicines must be adjusted, especially hazardous ones that must be provided in containers that are difficult for the child to open rather than plastic bags, as it is already implemented in many countries.”
Kuwait Medicines Information Center (KU - MIC) expressed its gratitude to the volunteer; students of the Faculty of Pharmacy, pharmacists and doctors for participating in the campaign and raising awareness. The center also extends its gratitude to Advanced Technology Company, Al-Mojil Drug Company, and Tamdeen Company for their generous sponsorship in hosting the event.