Unused medicines in Nigerian households: Types and disposal practices

Consumption of medicines has increased over the years due to an increase in the availability of treatment for most diseases and the growing public interest in health and health products. Medications in households lead to medication wastage which has an economic impact. Globally, unused medications cost billions of dollars. Some reasons identified as causes of unused medication are over prescribing, change in treatment plan, adverse drug event, medication reaching expiry dates, and non-adherence to therapy. In Nigeria, medicine financing is mainly out-of-pocket, with a few individuals benefiting from insurance coverage. This implies that most burdens of economic loss due to unused/expired medications lie on household members. Unused medication in households has not been studied in Nigeria. This research is aimed at determining the common classes of unused medications in households and medication disposal practices.