No fewer than 1050kg of routine and 37.8kg of controlled drugs were destroyed in the tertiary institution’s incinerator, on Thursday.
Briefing journalists shortly before commencement of the exercise, Head of Pharmacy, Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe, Adamu Salah, described the burning as a routine exercise in a bid to ensure confidence and best practices.
According to him, the exercise will protect patients from use of substandard products and expired commodities.
He said, “Today is a routine activity that is happening on perennial basis in the Federal Teaching. It’s an exercise whereby all drugs that are found to have expired or have gone through its lifeshelves are destroyed.
“It’s a continuous exercise but certainly the drugs are many because of the issue of Covid-19, so they are many and they vary. For the quantity of the drugs as been separated we have the routine drugs about 1050 kg and the controlled drugs or drugs with potential of becoming toxic to the environment is about 37.8kg.”
Explaining further Salah added, “It’s a routine, we are mandated by law to ensure that all drugs either substandard or expired are removed from circulation. It is carried out within two, three or more. The importance of this exercise is to ensure drugs given to our patients are standard. It will improve confidence and the proper disposal will help the environment.”
On his part, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer in FTH, public health adhoc committee for the destruction of expired drugs and items Habu Mu’azu, noted that effort was geared towards ensuring that sharp waste and medical wastes that are hazardous are properly disposed.
“This will ensure the environment is healthier for all of us. We have met with various associations, stakeholders including Commissioner for Health to liaise with FTH,” Mu’azu said.
Also speaking, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency North-East Zonal office Sani Auwalu, commended the hospital management saying “We were part of the committee formed by hospital management to see into the destruction of expired drugs by incinerating them. We came to witness the destruction.
On satisfaction with environmental compliance Auwalu said, “We are satisfied because it’s in accordance with environmental regulations on healthcare waste. We are happy Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe is the first in the North-East to have this destruction here and we are here to witness. It’s not causing harm and the committee which are part of ensure that dispose the waste well one of which is to segregate the waste properly. The waste has been segregated before today before today’s exercise.”
Senior Regulatory Officer National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Pharmacist Khadija Adamu, hailed the hospital for accepting its advocacy for destruction of expired drugs.
She said, “We have been advocating in different hospitals in Gombe different facilities. We are glad that at least one hospital which is the biggest tertiary hospital is destroying expired drugs,” she said.
Adamu continued saying, “I call on other hospitals to follow suit in destroying expired drugs in the state as the head of the committee said earlier they can come and register here or with us (NAFDAC) because we have destruction where we destroyed expired, counterfeited drugs seize in the whole of the North-East zone. Whenever we go out we have various inspections such as routine inspection such as local governments, pharmacies. If these drugs are given to patients it may cause death.”
