Gertrude’s Hospital Launches Campaign to Tackle Safe disposal of Medicines and Pharmaceutical Waste

Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital on Thursday 20th 2023 launched a campaign aimed at tackling the disposal of expired and unused medicine and pharmaceutical waste products

The initiative jointly designed with Ogilvy Africa, seeks to promote awareness on the care of medicine and safe disposal mechanisms to ensure the safe collection and disposal of unused and expired medicines, aimed to prevent medical waste from ending up in the hands of the public or contaminating our soil and water systems.

Dr Robert Nyarango, CEO Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital said the initiative seeks to create awareness and reduce improper disposal which threatens the environment and the health of the public.

"when we recklessly dispose of pharmaceutical products, we not only contaminate the land and water, but we also risk fueling the dangerous trade of reselling these products to vulnerable communities, thereby endangering both the environment and populations." Nyarango stated.

Ogilvy Africa CEO Vikas Mehta says there is lack of awareness on the same

"There is a serious lack of awareness amongst the general public about the health hazard we create every time we throw away old medicines in our garbage cans. DispoSafely is an attempt to bring about systematic behavior change that would protect our environment and reduce public health risks." says Vikas Mehta.

A study by MDPI suggests that more in-depth research is necessary in Africa. Based on the study conducted in Nairobi, the findings show that knowledge of the safe disposal practices of unused medicines is relatively weak.

Despite policy guidance on pharma waste disposal, there is a lack of execution in the public domain. The low public awareness of disposal mechanics, lack of infrastructure for collecting and safe disposal of pharma products, high cost of waste management, and dumping of pharma and medical waste into garbage all contribute to the problem.

Through this initiative, Gertrude's Children’s Hospital and its satellite clinics in Nairobi will be used as drop-off points for unused and expired medicines and pharmaceutical products for safe disposal and incineration. While the initial rollout will be in Nairobi, Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital and Ogilvy Africa are open to partnering with more organizations from across the country to scale up safe collection and disposal of pharma-waste.