Qatar University (QU) College of Pharmacy (CPH) hosted the first virtual outreach campaign to raise awareness of the proper disposal of unused medications at home titled “Dispose your Unused Home Medications Correctly: Safe Use, Safe disposal.”
The outreach campaign included a webinar, daily social media messages on how to dispose of medicines correctly, and a promotional video highlighting the harms and risks of unsafe disposal of medications and how to dispose of unused medicines safely over a week.
The webinar was held through WebEx and streamed live on YouTube, with guest speaker Dr. Mutaseim Makki, Scientific Researcher at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia. Panelists for the webinar included QU Health Director of Academic Quality Assurance Dr. Derek Stewart, QU-CPH Professor Dr. Hesham Korashy, and QU-CPH Assistant Professor Dr. Zachariah Nazar.
The webinar aimed to educate the public on the health, economic and environmental impact of improperly disposing of unused medication at home and ways to minimise this medication. The webinar was followed by a rich discussion that covered many aspects, including the proper ways of disposing of different medications dosage forms at home, the role of health care providers in minimising the risk of improper medication disposal, local and international rules and regulations regarding proper medications disposal, and the roles governments, health, and academic institutions could play in ensuring sustainable wider public awareness related to medication wastage and unused medications
Dr. Mohammad Diab, Dean of QU-CPH, commented: “While this time is very challenging and with all the safety measures, we believe it is important to reach the public and educate them to take the right action. The College of Pharmacy successfully conducted its first virtual outreach campaign entitled ‘Dispose Your Unused Home Medications Correctly! Safe Use, Safe Disposal’.”
“This campaign aims at educating the public on how to properly dispose of their unused home medication through several videos on social media platforms and a webinar. We are proud of the College’s achievements and of its efforts to advance healthcare in Qatar and the world through excellence and innovation in pharmacy education, research, and service,” he added.
Dr. Zachariah Nazar said, “Inappropriate disposal of medications can have serious repercussions, both on the environment and public health. This campaign is essential in delivering critical messages .
