Unused medicines in Nigerian households: Types and disposal practices
Asa Auta1★, Simeon Omale1, David Shalkur1, Abanishe Hakeem Abiodun1★ Corresponding author
- 1Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria.
CORRESPONDENCE
Asa Auta
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria.
Volume 2, Issue 3 · pp. 195–196 · PUBLISHED 2011 · DOI: 10.4103/0976-500X.83290
ABSTRACT
Consumption of medicines has increased over the years due to an increase in the availability of treatment for most diseases and the growing public interest in health and health products. Medications in households lead to medication wastage which has an economic impact. Globally, unused medications cost billions of dollars. Some reasons identified as causes of unused medication are over prescribing, change in treatment plan, adverse drug event, medication reaching expiry dates, and non-adherence to therapy. In Nigeria, medicine financing is mainly out-of-pocket, with a few individuals benefiting from insurance coverage. This implies that most burdens of economic loss due to unused/expired medications lie on household members. Unused medication in households has not been studied in Nigeria. This research is aimed at determining the common classes of unused medications in households and medication disposal practices.
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Auta, A., Omale, S., Shalkur, D., & Abiodun, A. H. (2011). Unused medicines in Nigerian households: Types and disposal practices. Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics, 2(3), 195–196. https://doi.org/10.4103/0976-500X.83290