Problem of the Destruction of Waste and Unusable Pharmaceutical Products (PPI), its Impact on Environmental Degradation: Case of Health Establishments in the Abobo-EST Health District in Ivory Coast

The environment is under severe strain in recent decades due to the discharge of all kinds of waste into nature. The contribution of pharmaceutical waste or Unusable Pharmaceutical Products (UPPs) to the degradation of the ecosystem is undeniable. The institutional failure in the management of hospital waste, particularly UPPs in health establishments in Côte d'Ivoire, is indicative of the dysfunctions observed in the UPPs production, management and elimination chain. Thus, in order to better understand the impact of this phenomenon in the Abidjan 1 health Region, a study was carried out in the Abobo-Est health district in order to analyse the management and elimination of UPPs and propose solutions. To do this, the methodology adopted was based firstly on documentary research. Then, the second step of the approach was the field survey. The field survey was about interviewing sixty-eight (68) health workers in the 17 health facilities of the Abobo-East health district, involved in the management and elimination of UPPs; after that a questionnaire has been submitted to one hundred and nineteen (119) actors other than those interviewed, including seventeen (17) doctors and nurses, thirty-four nurses and fifty-one (51) patients in order to assess this management of the UPPs and the effects on the health population. The result of this analysis is that institutional failure, inappropriate management conditions (collection, handling, storage and destruction) represent a major health and environmental risk. Furthermore, the lack of interest of health authorities in the management of UPPs coupled with the lack of funding for the sector aggravate the already chaotic situation in health facilities in general, but in particular in the health district of Abobo East.