Campaign to help safe disposal of medicines
Deliver unused and expired medications at collections points, authority tells residents
The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has launched an awareness campaign to dispose off medicines in a safe manner.
The campaign, ‘Clean your medicine cabinet’ that was launched in 2011, was held through its #smart_clinic yesterday. Information about the campaign was disseminated through DHA’s page on Twitter (DHA_Dubai), Instagram and periscope.
Since the launch of the campaign, DHA collected medicines worth approximately Dh500,000 from residents, and were donated to UAE charities.
20 locations
DHA pharmacies located across 16 primary health care centres and DHA hospitals (Dubai, Rashid, Latifa and Hatta) accept expired or unutilised medications. Residents can return these medications to these locations at no cost.
Expired medications are disposed off in line with international pharmaceutical safety guideline, while unutilised medicines are first re-evaluated by experts within the pharmacy department before being donated to charities.
“Expired medication can pose serious health risks to individuals as its chemical structure breaks down and it can become toxic,” Dr Mohammad Sameh, head of pharmacy at Rashid Hospital, said.
“Flushing down your medication is harmful for the environment and pollutes the water, and disposing off the medicines in the garbage (even if it is tightly sealed) pollutes the soil. Therefore, the best way to dispose outdated medications is to return the medicines to the pharmacy for safe disposal,” he added.
Dr Nada Amiri, head of pharmacy at Latifa Hospital, added that expired insulin injections had reduced potency which meant if the patient used such injections, it would be ineffective in controlling blood sugar and could have harmful effects.
Nada said medicines at home had to be checked regularly for expiry dates.
She added: “Medicines should be stored in a cool and dry place; they should be in one container that is out of the reach and sight of children and pets. These are basic precautions which parents should always keep in mind. Medicines should be stored below 25 degrees Celsius and medicines which need to be stored in the fridge should be stored between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.”