How to donate leftover medicines we don't use

From the Pharmaceutical Bank to Farmaco Amico: this is how you can avoid wasting the medicines you don't need. A simple but crucial gesture.

di |
HOW TO DONATE UNUSED MEDICINES

With medicines, exactly the same injustice occurs as with food: a part of the population does not have the money to buy drugs that the National Health Service doesn't provide for free, and another portion wastes pills they purchase completely pointlessly. To prevent drug waste, there's a very simple and effective solution: donate them.

How to donate leftover medicines

How many times has passed since theinfluenceOnce our antibiotics are finished, do we forget our medicines in the medicine cabinet? When we go looking for them, perhaps years later, we discover they've expired and end up throwing them in the trash. Are we aware of the waste we're guilty of? The latest data shines a spotlight on a serious problem affecting an increasing number of Italian families: healthcare poverty. This year, the number of citizens who turned to healthcare agencies for the medicines they need increased by 8,3 percent compared to the previous year. A truly worrying number. By paying attention to this cry for help, however, we discover some truly valuable organizations. Non-profit organizations like Pharmaceutical counter, in fact, they collect unexpired medicines, which would otherwise be wasted, to redistribute them to those who cannot afford them.

Donating medicines we keep at risk of going to waste can truly revolutionize our lifestyles. Throwing away expired medicines is often an involuntary act, one we do without thinking. Learning about organizations like Banco Farmaceutico or Friendly medicine It allows us to stop and think, breaking a harmful automatism. This way, we can help those most in need with a simple and practically free gesture (the alternative is throwing away medicines).

Health poverty in Italy

In Italy, there are so many poor healthcare workers, so poor they can't even afford a paracetamol. The problem doesn't just affect those in serious financial difficulty, but also 5 million "ordinary" families who, due to the crisis, have had to limit their number of doctor visits or screening tests. The Pharmaceutical Bank reaches approximately 557 people by collecting medications and entrusting them to a network of 1600 charities that distribute them based on needs and doctors' recommendations.

How to donate unexpired medicines

This non-profit organization was founded in 2000 to help charitable and welfare organizations respond not only to requests for food for canteens or parcels for poor families, but also for those in desperate need of medicines. From painkillers to antipyretics, from antibiotics to antidepressants, many find themselves ill and unable to seek treatment. To meet this need, Banco Farmaceutico relies on the support of around thirty companies that guarantee basic supplies but, at the same time, collects donations from private individuals. Many pharmaciesFor example, they participate in the initiative to collect unexpired medicines. Last year alone, 212 medicines were recovered, worth €2,7 million. They also organize initiatives, such as "Medicine Collection Day," which allow each of us to make a significant contribution with a small gesture. It's time to start making ourselves useful, simply by not wasting.

Where to bring medicines to donate

To avoid wasting time and risking your donation of unexpired medicines going to waste, the first thing to do is contact your trusted pharmacist. Perhaps they have a collection point, affiliated with the Pharmaceutical Bank or other organizations that carry out this anti-waste recovery activity. Another option is to contact the organizations directly, knowing that you can only donate drugs They must still be valid for 8 months and be in an intact container. However, gifts of drugs or medicines that need to be refrigerated are not permitted.
In this page of the Banco Farmaceutico website Find all the pharmacies, organized by city and region, where you can donate medications. But in any case, don't stop at the first possible refusal: persist and perhaps ask your pharmacy to join the network that handles medicine donations to those in need.

Read also:

Want to see a selection of our news?

Don't Waste