Assessment of household knowledge, attitude and practices on disposal methods of expired and unused medicines among residents of Lusaka City, Zambia

Abstract

Medicines play an important role in treating different diseases and conditions, but when left unused or to expire at home and improperly disposed, they may cause environmental pollution and can be hazardous to health. In this study, assessment of household knowledge attitude and practices on disposal methods of expired and unused medicines among residents was done in selected areas of Lusaka City, Zambia. This was achieved through the use of a standardized questionnaire among 385 participants. The study revealed that 94.5% of participants never received information towards safe disposal methods of expired and unused household medicines. Our study also found that 97% of participants threw away the expired drugs while 95% kept unused medicines in their homes. Only 2% and 1% of participants returned expired and unused household medicines to pharmacies respectively. In this study, there was lack of household knowledge on safe disposal methods among the majority of participants and most disposal methods used by participants are not recommended. However, participants had positive attitude towards safe disposal methods and therefore, there is need to establish state run drug take-back program of collecting unused and expired household medicines. Key words: Disposal methods, knowledge, attitude, medicines, practices, unused, expired.