Efforts to educate European citizens on how to dispose of unused or expired medicines correctly have this week been scaled up with the launch of an informative and easily accessible social media campaign. 

The campaign, #medsdisposal, took off on June 4, is part of a collaborative effort between European healthcare stakeholders, the pharmaceutical industry and student organisation, designed to tackle effectively the potential negative impact of pharmaceuticals in the environment. 

Human medicines contain active pharmaceutical ingredients that may have unintended and unforeseen effects on the environment. While isolated examples of adverse effects have been identified, the general impact of pharmaceuticals on the environment is an area of ongoing research. 

While most European countries already have special medication disposal schemes in place, our hope is that the #medsdisposal campaign will raise awareness and collate information about the scheme in a single portal (medsdisposal.eu). Every EU citizen has the power to limit undue and incorrect disposal of medicines: It is easier than you think! We strongly encourage European citizens to access this website and Facebook page to find out more, access a useful FAQ, and generally to remain informed. In Twitter you’ll find the campaign-related page with a hashtag #medsdisposal.

Going forward, we will be looking to consolidate other, related Europe-based links to the medsdisposal.eu site, which concern the issue of pharmaceuticals in the environment. We therefore welcome any suggestions that will help us to add meaningful content and develop the website.

Meanwhile, accompanying and supporting the website is a brief, fun and easily accessible video that advises citizens on how to dispose of unused and out-of-date medicines responsibly.  The video can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/KJCDrCkylnE

Contacts

Faraz Kermani
Tel: +44 1799218706
Mob.: +447885390335
Email: faraz.kermani@efpia.eu      

Doris Casares
Phone: +32 2 533 98 18
Email: dcasares@egagenerics.com