Awareness strategies for irregular medicinal disposal by population

Abstract

The wide access to medicines by the population, coupled with the lack of information regarding the correct disposal, caused recurrent problems for the environment and for the health of the population. Although not the most appropriate, it has become common to have medicines at home, a kind of “home pharmacy”, containing the most varied types of medicines, from non-prescription medicines to others such as antibiotics, for example. Knowing that these products have an expiry date, concerns the destination given by the consumer after the expiry of this period or even when the product presents some quality deviation due to improper storage. Therefore, this work aimed to carry out a bibliographical review about the legislation that defines the correct disposal, environmental impacts of improper disposal, awareness strategies regarding the appropriate destination and the role of the pharmacist in this aspect. The searches were carried out from January to November 2022, in the Library Scientific databases Electronic, National
Library of Medicine, Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (Lilacs) and academic google, selecting 21 articles that composed the result of the work. The works analyzed demonstrate the clear need for public policies aimed at the correct disposal of medicines, among the reasons for storage are: self-medication, leftover treatments and future use; regarding the disposal of these products, inappropriate practices prevailed. It is concluded that in order to minimize the consequences of incorrect disposal, joint action by all who participate in the manufacturing process, purchase, until the final destination is necessary.