Abstract
Pharmacies are final providers when it comes to servicing patients for prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines. Because of this, it is the pharmacies that bear the ultimate responsibility for proper use and discarding of the various pharmaceutical materials. A follow-up conducted in response to pharmaceutical provisions defined by the Thirteenth Revised Guidelines for Dispensing made the ramifications for such responsibility even broader, along with the assessment of efficiency and problem-findings for medical therapy. This means that pharmacies must deal with a wider range of issues related to these provisions defined for medicines, this could include adverse situations or side effects as well as understanding and tackling the related problems. This also includes how to handle unused medicines and medical wastes generated from homes, a requirement that is increasing as more and more homecare medical systems are implemented and promoted. This report introduces a campaign to collect and treat unused and otherwise discarded medicines and syringes that was conducted jointly by the Kawasaki Association of Pharmacists and the city government. The paper also discusses the future role of pharmacies with regard to medical waste management, including proper use and disposal of medicine and medical products.
