Publication details
Waste of Pills : The Hidden Bin
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Inappropriate disposal of unused and expired medicines is considered a global health concern today. Action based on scientific evidence at different global and local level guarantees safer environment, saving life and money. Many countries have amended laws and regulations to address the different aspects of how, where, when and what is needed to make such disposal safe. Israel has lagged behind. According to a survey done twelve years ago recycling was a practice in only 20% of household waste in Israel, which is considered the lowest rate in westernize states. Only recently a new regulation has been passed to address this policy. HMO’s are obliged to deal with some aspects of disposal, but surveys show that the public lacks sufficient understanding for the seriousness of the problem and do not act enough to handle unused and expired medicines properly. Only 14% of Israelis return unused medications to the HMO’s pharmacies. Compared to Europe where 15% of the public throw household and medical waste to bins or flush it down the toilet, 84% of the Israeli do so. Very few articles appeared in medical databases commenting and researching on the Israeli experience in this field. The Israeli news-papers have addressed this phenomenon from different perspectives, trying to educate the public and recruit for action from citizen/pharmaceutical industry/ and government. Medical journalism with features of medical writing (medical communication) took the role of bringing the message to the Israeli public. Medical writers are ethically and technically skilled to effectively communicate information to the audience. In this research I review the work of medical writers, who are referred to in Israel as “reporters of health affairs”. I will focus on their reports on addressing the topic of disposal of unused and expired medicines, specifically discussing their attributions in raising awareness towards this topic in Israel. I will present the knowledge on this topic, regulations, and the available research done in the field of disposal of unused and expired medicines in Israel. The aim is to map the process of writing a report on this topic and suggest ways on how to cover the gap between regulations and reality. |
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