Pharmacists Australia wide are encouraging locals to check their medicine cabinets and get rid of any unwanted or expired medicines by returning them to the pharmacy.
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It is estimated that there are millions of medicines sitting in Australian homes – either out-of-date or no longer needed.
These quantities of medicines pose a huge danger of accidental poisonings and medication mismanagement.
Stockpiling medicines in Australia has become a big issue. New research published by the Australian Health Review has revealed that 75% of people said they kept medicines in case they needed them in the future.
Other reasons included not wanting to waste money, not knowing how to dispose of them, intending to give them to family and friends, or forgetting the medicines were there.
Local pharmacist Sarah Hazell said it’s very important that people don’t stockpile or use any out of date medication as it could be less effective or lead to medication error.
Return Unwanted Medicines - or the RUM Project - is a Federal Government-funded initiative that provides all Australians with a free and convenient way to dispose of expired and unwanted household medicines.
Anyone can return their medicines to any community pharmacy at any time, for safe collection and disposal.
The study also found that 65% of Australians are still disposing of their medicine in the household garbage as 80% of people hadn’t heard of the Federal Government’s Return Unwanted Medicines Scheme. However, once they knew about it, 92% said they would use it.
Stockpiling medicines can also lead to accidental poisoning, especially amongst young children.
In 2015, 5,580 children required hospitalisation due to medicine poisonings across Australia and 32,000 calls were made to Australian Poison Information Centres relating to children being unintentionally exposed to medicines.
“Last year alone, over 780,273kg of medicines were collected and safely disposed of by the RUM Project, preventing it from ending up in waterways or landfill,” said Toni Riley, Project Manager, RUM and community pharmacist.
“By following three simple steps of Read, Remove and Return, Australians can minimise the risk of unintended poisonings and medication mix-ups and do their bit to protect the environment,” Ms Riley said.
