Aspects Regarding the Pharmaceutical Waste Management in Romania
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Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, Oradea 410028, Romania
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Preclinical Department, Faculty of Medicine, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Sibiu 550024, Romania
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Department of Physics, Faculty of Machine Manufacturing and Industrial Management, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, Iasi 700050, Romania
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Academy of Romanian Scientists, Bucharest 050094, Romania
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Department of Preclinical Disciplines, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, Oradea 410028, Romania
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Department of Psycho Neuroscience and Recovery, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, Oradea 410028, Romania
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2788; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082788
Received: 30 June 2018 / Revised: 3 August 2018 / Accepted: 5 August 2018 / Published: 7 August 2018
(This article belongs to the Collection Trends in Municipal Solid Waste Management)
The issue of drug disposal, as well as the development and implementation of efficient collection strategies, represents an important concern at the highest European level. This research looks into the factors that could have an impact on the efficiency of pharmacies in collecting and disposing the medicinal waste of the population. There were 521 pharmacists from all over the country who filled in a questionnaire on their opinion/attitude related to the system of collecting and disposing the pharmaceutical waste of the population. Of the surveyed pharmacists, 16% work in pharmacies that do not collect unused/expired drugs from the population, and nearly 33% of those investigated have refused, at least once, to take the unused medicines from the people. Pharmacists’ most important reasons for refusing to collect the pharmaceutical waste were the lack of procedure, incomplete legislation, exceeding the amount contracted with the operators, and high costs. Results show that pharmacies in Romania face several deficiencies in the pharmaceutical waste collection services. The lack of implemented programs has contributed considerably to lower standards of pharmaceutical waste management in Romania. This study is the first research on this topic in Romania, a country where the management of drug-based waste generated by the population is at the beginning. The results shown in this survey can provide a reference point for competent authorities in developing and implementing a take-back program for waste medicine whose efficiency is superior to the existing ones.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Bungau, S.; Tit, D.M.; Fodor, K.; Cioca, G.; Agop, M.; Iovan, C.; Cseppento, D.C.N.; Bumbu, A.; Bustea, C. Aspects Regarding the Pharmaceutical Waste Management in Romania. Sustainability 2018, 10, 2788. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082788
AMA Style
Bungau S, Tit DM, Fodor K, Cioca G, Agop M, Iovan C, Cseppento DCN, Bumbu A, Bustea C. Aspects Regarding the Pharmaceutical Waste Management in Romania. Sustainability. 2018; 10(8):2788. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082788
Chicago/Turabian StyleBungau, Simona, Delia M. Tit, Katalin Fodor, Gabriela Cioca, Maricel Agop, Ciprian Iovan, Delia C.N. Cseppento, Adrian Bumbu, and Cristiana Bustea. 2018. "Aspects Regarding the Pharmaceutical Waste Management in Romania" Sustainability 10, no. 8: 2788. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082788
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