More than 1100 pounds of unused and outdated medications were collected by local pharmacies during the recent PEI Medicine Cabinet Clean-Up campaign.
The campaign was launched in March by the Department of Health and Social Services, Island pharmacists and several private sector partners to promote the appropriate use of medications and safe disposal of them.
Bags were distributed in local newspapers across the Island during Pharmacy Awareness Week to encourage Islanders to bring their outdated and unused medications back to their local pharmacies for environmentally safe disposal.
Health and Social Services Minister Mildred Dover advised today that the campaign was a tremendous success.
"One of our first objectives was to increase awareness and understanding of the need to dispose of unused medications in an environmentally safe manner," she said. "Our success in meeting this objective is best reflected by the fact that pharmacies have collected to date more than half a ton, or 1100 pounds of unused and outdated medications with an estimated retail value of over $100,000."
PEI Pharmaceutical Association president Ken Ramsay indicated that the response of people coming in to the pharmacies was overwhelming.
"We received nothing but positive comments from the public," he said, "and we are confident that, through the campaign, we increased peoples' awareness of the need to improve the way they dispose of potentially hazardous materials that may be harmful to their water systems and landfills if washed down the drain or thrown in the garbage.
He added that people have also become more aware of the need to reduce the amount of unused medications in Island homes that could be potentially harmful if taken by children or taken mistakenly by adults.
Mr. Ramsay acknowledged the tremendous effort and cooperation of Island pharmacists as the key to the success of the campaign, as well as the generous contributions of O'Meara's Transport in transporting the medications, and Merck Frosst Canada Inc. for their financial support.
Provisions have been made by the Department of Fisheries and Environment to have the unused and expired medications disposed of through a licensed out-of-province incinerator.
Minister Dover indicated that the underlying objective of the campaign was to increase Islanders' understanding and awareness of the need to take medications properly.
Studies indicate that approximately 50 per cent of prescription drug users do not take their medications as prescribed, and this results in high human costs through unnecessary illness, as well as high costs to the health care system.
The minister advised that, through the Medicine Cabinet Clean-Up campaign, pharmacists had thousands of opportunities to educate people first-hand at the front line of the important need to finish taking their prescribed medications, how to take them properly, and how to safely dispose of them.
"While it is difficult to estimate the exact human or financial benefits resulting from such health promotion initiatives," she said, "we can assume from the very positive response that it has had a significant positive impact on increasing medication compliance in our province."
The results of the campaign are now being further analysed with the intent to develop an ongoing education and disposal program at all Island pharmacies.