Assessment Of Willingness To Comply With The ‘Take Back Unwanted Medicines’ Project Among Clients At Selected Pharmacies In Accra

Abstract

Background: Unwanted, unused, and expired drugs/medicines in homes pose a threat to vulnerable populations, mostly children and the elderly. The storage of drugs at homes may be as a result of incomplete large prescriptions, adverse drug reactions which leads to incomplete prescriptions, patronage of over-the-counter medications for self-medication, forgetfulness among other reasons. The disposal of these drugs inappropriately in the environment has been marked as the primary means by which drugs get into the environment, creating unnecessary exposure. In Ghana, the Public Health Act mandates the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to ensure that unwanted drugs are disposed of safely without damaging the environment and do not end up in the hands of consumers. The FDA has therefore established guidelines for the proper disposal of unwholesome products including drugs. The authority launched a pilot drug take-back project called "Take Back Unwanted Medicine (TBUM)" in October 2020, to collect unused, unwanted, and expired medications from consumers through community pharmacies in the Greater Accra Region and safely dispose them in a way that does not pose a public health risk. The objective of this study was to assess clients’ willingness to comply to the TBUM project at the designated pharmacies in the Greater Accra Region. Methods: The study employed a quantitative research approach using structured questionnaires and employed a cross-sectional design to collect data which was analysed with STATA 16. It aimed at understanding factors that influence willingness to comply with the TBUM Project. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the pharmacies for this study. Results: Among the 301 clients visiting retail pharmacies in Accra, majority (53.5%) were between 21 to 30 years with tertiary education as the highest level of education obtained (65.8%). 31% of the client respondents were aware of the TBUM program, out of this number of which 81% were compliant to TBUM. Also 55% of the respondents confirmed they had unwanted drugs at home and over-the-counter drugs were the most predominant drugs stored in homes. 54% of the clients claimed to have disposed unwanted drugs in the last six months, among which the majority (65%) disposed them by throwing them in their home dustbins. Almost all of the pharmacists and other pharmacy staff surveyed agreed that it was their role to accept unwanted drugs from clients and it was their responsibility to counsel clients on the proper disposal of drugs. Conclusion: Overall, the study discovered that there is a low level of awareness among clients about the TBUM project which negatively affected the overall willingness to comply with the project. Also, a higher proportion of clients surveyed had in their possession some unwanted or expired medications which were mostly disposed of through home dustbins or flushed down the toilet. Pharmacists at the designated pharmacies were aware of the implementation of the project and offer counseling on appropriate drug disposal methods. They also encourage clients to utilize TBUM to dispose their unwanted drugs, even though the study findings indicate majority of clients still do not return their unwanted medicines to these designated pharmacies.