Cork public can avail of free service to dispose of medicine

CORK Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH), together with Cork City Council, Cork County Council and Kerry County Council, is asking the public to use a free service to dispose of their medications safely and properly.

The ‘Dispose of Unused Medicines Properly’ (DUMP) campaign runs from today until Sunday, October 15 with almost all pharmacies across Cork and Kerry taking part.

The campaign allows the public to bring unused or out-of-date medicines to participating pharmacies to ensure that they are disposed of properly.

The DUMP campaign has run successfully in Cork and Kerry since 2007 and in 2022, almost seven tonnes of medicines were safely disposed of as part of this vital campaign.

Unused or out-of-date medicines can build up in the home for a variety of reasons but people are advised that storing these medications long-term is not safe and can result in accidental poisonings, intentional overdose, inappropriate sharing of medicines and environmental damage.

Explaining why people should take this opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted medicines, HSE Pharmacist Louise Creed said: “We would strongly urge people to take this opportunity to get rid of out-of-date or unused medicines.

“Medication can pose a real hazard in the home, particularly to children or other vulnerable people. Clearing out your medicine cabinet is something that should be done on a regular basis.

“Please take 10 minutes to check all the medicines you keep at home including over-the-counter medicines and vitamins and remove anything that is out of date or no longer required. Medicines have an expiry date for the same reason food does and out-of-date medicines could do more harm than good.” 

Resource Officer for Suicide Prevention in Cork, Martin Ryan, said: “I would urge you to review all medications you have in your home on a regular basis. One of our strategic goals in the Connecting for Life Strategy Cork and Kerry is to local communities' capacity to prevent and respond to suicidal behaviour. Reducing access to unused or unwanted medications in the home is of vital importance.” 

Drug and Alcohol Services Co-ordinator David Lane said pharmacies involved have embraced the campaign and are actively encouraging people to return unwanted or out-of-date medicines to them.

“I cannot emphasise strongly enough how important it is to ensure these medicines are disposed of properly and safely. Please take some time to check out what’s in your cabinets and avail of this free service over the coming weeks,” he said.