BENGALURU: With the growing diagnosis of various diseases, biomedical waste in the country is also piling up. Karnataka produces 77,369 kg of biomedical waste every day, according to data from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). This included not just hospital waste like syringes, swabs and bandages, but also unused medicines or tablets discarded by every household.
A recent survey stated that up to 70% of unused medicines purchased in the last three years were discarded by 3 in 4 households in the country. Sometimes individuals are unaware of the right disposal methods and throw tablets either into dry or wet waste at homes. The survey conducted by LocalCircles, a community social media platform that enables citizens to policy changes, found that 50% of people responded that chemists sell a higher minimum quality than what is needed; 29% of the respondents also said that they stopped taking the prescribed medicines after a few days, letting the rest go to waste.
For the past two years, NGOs and experts in the field have been pushing the government to make policy changes and reduce the size of medicine strips that allow pharmacies to sell smaller quantities and reduce the wastage of drugs. Manvel Alur, founder, of Environmental Synergies in Development (ENSYDE) said, “There are multiple stakeholders, the consumers are unaware and at a loss of options, pharmacies cannot sell small quantities and have to push the entire packet.” Another reason that Alur highlighted was the medicine stripes have an expiry date on only one corner. So, if the medicines are cut in batches, neither the consumer nor the pharmacist will remember the dates.
A KSPCB official stated, “Of the materials we buy, 99% of the waste generated does not reach waste disposal.” He added that the state has 26 common incinerators for biomedical waste, however, drugs added to the wet and dry waste cannot be segregated at such a level.
Experts also suggest that drug and pharmaceutical companies should take the onus and call back expired medicines to incinerate them. The survey highlighted that “43% wanted consumers to be permitted to return any unused or sealed medicine quantities within a month with pharmaceutical manufacturers or their nearest pharmacy”. As per reports, the retail pharmacy market in India is extensive and is projected to grow from $18.89 Bn in 2022 to $40.19 Bn by 2030.