Galery

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Victoria Mindova

I do not know how it is with you, but many of my friends tend to fill their medicine chests with aspirin, ointments for colds and a bunch of other drugs. The medications are there just in case if the people start sneezing, get sick or their nose starts running. Many of these drugs stay there too long, they expire and end up in the bin. I had not asked myself if they belong there until I heard about the HappyEnd initiative in Athens. It is taken by the first "green" network of companies Athens Green 360 which introduced special containers for disposing of unnecessary medicines with the support of Post bank Green Institute. Inappropriate management of medicinal waste may lead to environmental pollution and damage human health seriously. GRRepoter contacted the Executive Director of the Post bank Green Institute Dimitris Zisis, who told us more about the initiative.

How was the HappyEnd initiative born?

The idea of HappyEnd was born after the problem was recognized and on the base of the results of studying the international practices. As you may know, uncontrolled and careless disposal of medicines can have serious consequences both for people and for nature, because these substances can remain in soil and drinking water for long and affect the food chain negatively.

Tell us more about the effects on man and environment that the uncontrolled disposal of medicines can bring.

The mix of medicines is found in substantial part of the chemical composition in nature. The scientific community is unanimous that we should find a way to reduce the release of such substances in the environment. It was found that pharmacies and pharmaceutical stores return to pharmaceutical companies 2% of the medicines on the market because they expired. They are not sold and must be withdrawn from the market. Furthermore, it is found that at least 10% of the medicines for home use are disposed together with the household waste. We are talking bout expired medications, which are no longer safe to be taken by the people, or medicines that have never been used for various reasons. These medicines find their way to the soil and especially to the water sources, which are part of the biological cycle.

The data are particularly alarming, taking into account that an average of about 500 million packs of different medicines in Greece are on the market every year, and 10% of them end up in ordinary bins. At the same time, research in Europe and the USA show that chemical compounds typical for different types of drugs were found in sources of drinking water, in soil and coastal areas.

Since when there is a European directive for the recycling of medicinal products and why are these provisions not implemented in Greece yet?

The European Directive 2004/27/ES on medicinal products for home use requires Member States to ensure appropriate systems for collecting unused and expired medications (Article 127B). These systems had to be introduced in Greece until October 2005 and the program should be implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

What are the practices applied in the other countries that are more active in terms of environment protection, and mainly when it comes to unused medicines for home use?

The first foreign countries that have taken up the problem and realized that medicinal products may be sources of pollution are the USA, Canada and Australia to a large extent. The problem in the USA is much more serious because unused drugs in households often end up in the sewer system after being thrown into the sink and the household waste crushing and grinding mechanism. Today, systems for the safe processing of medicinal substances are operating in most European countries, and countries like Germany, France and Sweden have already set up collection points with waste containers specially created for this purpose. In Sweden there is even a volunteer group that classifies drugs according to the level of risk to environmental pollution.

Could you tell us how much it would cost approximately to introduce such a system for recycling of medicinal products in Greece?

The cost of introducing such a system does not matter, especially compared to the substantial benefit that it would have on public health.

Could you tell us whether there is interest among pharmaceutical companies to participate in implementing these practices and what role they can play in the safe recycling of drugs for household use?

The HappyEnd initiative is implemented with the exclusive support of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, Europe and with a strong presence in Greece - Sanofi-aventis. Nevertheless, we believe that the successful and effective implementation of such a program requires cooperation between the private and the public sectors. The signs we have received so far indicate that other pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers are willing to follow the positive example of Sanofi-aventis and be more actively involved in introducing the new system for managing drug waste.