The Pharmacy Department of Cocoa Clinic on Friday extended the Disposal of Unused and Unwanted Medicines (DUMP) Project aimed at collecting unused and unwanted medicines for proper disposal to the Kaneshie market in Accra.
Mr Edward Amporful, Chief Pharmacist of Cocoa Clinic, who addressed the traders and consumers at the market, explained that the project would be extended to other markets in the metropolis.
He said DUMP which had run for the past two years had collected more than 100 different types of unused and unwanted medicines.
In 2010 about 74 kilogram’s of the medicines, amounting to GH¢300 million were collected and handed over to the Food and Drugs Board for proper disposal.
He said receptacles and bins had been provided at the clinic to receive all unused and unwanted medicines, while similar collection facility would be placed at the administration and other security points at the Kaneshie market to be emptied every two weeks for proper disposal.
Mr Amporful called on government to institute a policy which would compel all medical centres nationwide to provide points of deposits and receptacles for unused and unwanted medicines to promote health safety and prevent drug resistance.
He said the Cocoa Clinic became concerned about the recurring reports of accidental child poisoning and youth addictions to specific drugs that stimulated certain parts of the human body specifically the brain and traced such complaints to abuse and improper disposal of unused medicines.
Mr Amporful said it was very difficult to administer any form of antidotes to accidental poisoned patients when the type of medication taken were often not identified as labels of the medicines were either peeled off or defaced.
He explained that unused medicines results from situations where patients failed to complete their medicated dosages.
“Unwanted medicines are the starting points of drugs abuse by teenagers at homes as such medicines are easily passed on to others who may be in need of such medicines without the advice of a professional health care provider,” Mr Amporful added.
He urged Ghanaians to put away all unwanted medicines kept for so long in order to prevent such accidental poisoning of children at home.
Mr Amporful explained that improper storage of medicines affected the integrity of products with several chemical reactions being triggered off under such conditions, which could lead to serious consequences to the user.
He said the misuse of medicines such as antibiotics and anti-malaria drugs might lead to drug resistance.
Mr Amporful said the project would be extended to various markets within the metropolis including, James Town, Mamobi, Osu Alata, La, Adabraka and Malam Atta.
The forum was also used to educate the traders on other diseases such HIV and AIDS, Hepatitis B and Malaria.