LOW PUBLIC AWARENESS ON RETURNING UNUSED MEDICATION, WASTAGE LEADS TO SHORTAGE CRISIS

By Siti Baaqiah Mamat

KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Bernama) -- Public awareness on returning medicines obtained from public health clinics or government hospitals remains low. When no longer in use, many opt for the easier albeit improper option of discarding it in the trash can even though this is not the prescribed way.

Perhaps because the medicines are given for free, patients feel no obligation to return them to a health facility. When in fact, even used inhalers or cardboard packaging can be recycled.

In reality, the government has spent RM23.25 billion to purchase medicines from 2015 to 2023 based on the Pharmacy Services Programme Statistics Report, and throwing away medicines amounts to sheer wastage.

Occupational Health and General Medicine specialist Dr Hanafiah Bashirun said any patient who receives medication from a government clinic or hospital but does not use it, should return the medicine to the health facility (via drop-off boxes).

"However, currently the awareness of returning medicines among patients is still low to the point that some choose to just throw medicines in the bin or sink or flush them in the toilet resulting in annual losses of thousands of ringgit," he told Bernama.

Dr Hanafiah said Malaysia is among the countries with a high rate of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity to the point that patients are supplied with medicines for a period of three to six months depending on their health status.

"However, when patients do not comply with taking their medicines or are prescribed a new type of medicine, most of them just keep the old supply until the expiry date and dispose of it indiscriminately, which is very detrimental since the medicines involve significant costs," he said.

He explained that in the event of death, the patient's next of kin must also be responsible for returning the medication not yet expired to enable the clinic or hospital to supply them to other patients to address the national medication shortage crisis.

Dr Hanafiah said returning medicine could also prevent them from being misused by others or posing a risk to children if they accidentally ingest the medicine.

Therefore, he urged the Ministry of Health (MOH) to increase awareness campaigns on returning prescribed medications by publicising the provision of medicine drop-off (return) boxes placed at pharmacy counters for safe disposal by the MOH.

"Many are still unaware that the government has provided a special box to make it easier for patients to return medicine at the nearby MOH pharmacy, but with parking constraints it is difficult for patients to go to a clinic just to return medication.

"So perhaps the medicine return box could be placed outside the health facility which makes it easier for patients to return medicines on a drive-through basis, in addition to displaying a notice of medicine return if not used on each medication supplied to a patient," he said.

According to the National Security Council website, it is estimated that the value of medicine supplied for acute or mild diseases is between RM5 to RM40 per week, while for specialist clinic treatment or chronic diseases, the cost of medicine can reach RM400 per month depending on the level of care and type of medication given.

Previously, MOH introduced the initiative of labelling the price of medicine on every medicine supplied to patients in all MOH health facilities since 2011 to raise awareness about the price of medicines financed by government subsidies.

Meanwhile, public health physician Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar is concerned that improper disposal of medicines by patients, such as throwing them into waterway sources, could lead to long-term environmental pollution.

He said this matter of medication disposal should not be taken lightly even though pharmaceutical waste is not the only cause of environmental pollution at the moment.

"Maybe this problem seems quite small, but pollution due to the disposal of medicines and pharmaceutical products that do not follow procedure can pose a threat to environmental health as well as endanger aquatic life if not controlled as early as possible," he also said.

Dr Zainal Ariffin, who is also Public Health Organisation Malaysia adviser, said the MOH has special procedures for disposing of medicines depending on the type, including the use of incinerators for burning or isolating hazardous substances to reduce environmental impact.

-- BERNAMA