C1 - Antimicrobial resistance and environmental pollution with medicines
Organised by the SIG on Drug Design and Discovery, in collaboration with FIP’s Community Pharmacy Section, the Hospital Pharmacy Section and the Industrial Pharmacy Section
Chairs
Takuya Kumamoto (Hiroshima University, Japan) and Eeva Teräsalmi (Seitsemän Veljeksen Apteekki, Finland)Introduction
The entire medicines use process must be changed to minimise the environmental effects of pharmaceuticals. This is made clear in FIP’s reference document “Green pharmacy practice: Taking responsibility for the environmental impact of medicines”, which describes the impact of pharmaceuticals on water supplies, soil and the atmosphere. The document was produced by FIP’s Working Group on Pharmaceuticals and the Environment.
Drug-resistant bacteria have become one of the most important global problems in recent years. Concerns include that transmission of resistance genes to pathogenic bacteria will result in intractable infections. Causative factors could include environmental pollution from the excessive use of medicines, especially antibiotics, including in farm animals and fisheries. Pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists are expected to be have knowledge of the analysis and disposing system of pharmaceuticals and green medicines production, in order to help minimise the environmental burden of pharmaceuticals.
In this session, a general aspect of antibiotic-resistant genes in waste water will be overviewed and specific research and educational programmes on residual antibiotics in Vietnam, the continuous effort of the industry to minimise the burden of pharmaceuticals on the environment, and effective recovering systems for residual medicines in the US, will be discussed.
Programme
12:30 – 12:35 Introduction by the chairs
- 12:35 – 12:55 Antibiotic-resistant genes in waste water: Introduction
Marko Virta (University of Helsinki, Finland) - 12:55 – 13:15 Antibiotic residue in environmental water and fresh food in Vietnam
Kazuo Harada (Osaka University, Japan) - 13:15 – 13:35 Environmental impact of the pharmaceutical industry
Jason Snape (AstraZeneca, UK) - 13:35 – 13:50 Take back programme: Disposing of unused and unwanted medicines properly
Marianne Ivey (FIP Hospital Pharmacy Section, USA)
13:50 – 13:55 Conclusion by the chairs
13:55 – 14:00 Room refresh
Learning Objectives
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Outline the basics of how antibiotic resistant genes are selected and transferred in waste water
- Describe the actual state of antibiotic residue in environmental water and fresh food, and the education programme on analysis of antibiotic residue in Vietnam
- Describe the continuous programmes used by the pharmaceutical industry to minimise the impact of pharmaceuticals toward the environment
- Identify effective programmes to dispose of unused prescription and over-the-counter medicines and to reduce undesirable access to prescription drugs.
Type of session: Knowledge-based