New Delhi: A recent survey released by LocalCircles revealed that three in every four surveyed households discarded up to 70 per cent of unused medicines purchased in the last three years. The survey also indicated that 21 per cent of households don’t discard any medicines.
The first question in the survey which concentrated on the percentage of unused medicines in every household received a total of 10,694 responses. 36 per cent of the respondents threw up to 10 per cent of their total medicines purchased, 27 per cent threw 10-30 per cent, while 6 per cent discarded 30-50 per cent of unused medicines.
The second question focussed on finding the key reasons behind such high medicine wastage received 11,895 responses. The key reason for such high medicine wastage, as stated in the survey report, was selling of a higher minimum quantity of medicines by chemists and ePharmacies. It also stated that around 29 per cent of the respondents stopped using the prescribed medicines after a few days of recovery.
At the end, the survey holder asked for viable solutions to tackle this problem. The respondents in the survey suggested that consumers should be allowed to return unused medicines to pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers within one month of the purchase. Furthermore, they recommended setting up hospitals in every district where people could donate unused medicines.
The survey received over 33,000 responses from citizens across 322 districts of India. While 64 per cent of respondents were men, 36 per cent of respondents were women. 43 per cent respondents belonged to tier 1, 32 per cent to tier 2 and 25 per cent respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.
Also read: 37% Indians experienced, saw unruly behaviour on public transport in last 3 years, says survey