This Diabetes Awareness Month, Health Products Stewardship Association (HPSA) sheds light on ease and importance of safe medical sharps disposal Français
More than one-quarter of Canadians using medical sharps at home dispose of them incorrectly; HPSA provides free and local program to return syringes and other items to pharmacies
TORONTO, Nov. 14, 2023 /CNW/ - November is Diabetes Awareness Month, an opportunity to shed light on the needs of the estimated 11.7 million Canadians living with diabetes or prediabetes.1 As an operator of free take-back programs for used medical sharps in Ontario, Manitoba and PEI, the Health Products Stewardship Association (HPSA) aims to increase awareness this November of safe disposal practices.
Most Canadians living with diabetes manage treatment at home, with insulin administered by pens, syringes, or pumps. In a 2023 survey commissioned by HPSA, results showed that 26 per cent of those are disposing of medical sharps incorrectly, such as throwing them in the garbage. For those who self-inject at home, the proper disposal of used medical sharps is essential to protecting communities from pollution, misuse, and needle stick injuries.
"As a parent of a son living with diabetes, I know first-hand the responsibility that comes with helping loved ones with self-injection, and ensuring those used medical sharps are disposed of safely," said James Miller, a parent in the Greater Toronto Area. "The sharps containers and take-back program provided by HPSA and my local pharmacy provide a safe and convenient way to store used medical sharps in our home, and protects our other family members and pets from needle stick injury. Living with diabetes can also require significant out-of-pocket costs, and this program helps because it's free of charge."
Canadians can use sharps containers to return any medical sharps they or a loved one use at home for any specific health condition. This includes needles, syringes, infusion sets, lancets, pen tips, pre-filled syringes, cartridges and auto-injectors.
"A key feature of HPSA's medical sharps take-back program is the eco-friendly sharps containers that pharmacists can distribute to community members free of charge," said Terri Drover, President and CEO of HPSA. "Managing a chronic disease like diabetes is an ongoing challenge, but our goal is to help alleviate some of that burden by making health products disposal safe and easy for everyone involved."
After picking up a sharps container at a participating pharmacy or from a retailer, Canadians can place the used needles and sharps into the container – making sure to not overfill it – and use the instructions provided on the container to permanently close it. Using HPSA's location finder, containers can be easily returned to the nearest collection location.
Visit healthsteward.ca to learn more about the safe disposal of used medical sharps.
"Pharmacy professionals take great pride in supporting patients and the communities in which they live. When it comes to safely disposing of medications and medical sharps, we appreciate local partnerships with HPSA that enable pharmacy professionals to easily provide tools and resources for safe, holistic patient care."
- Jen Belcher, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Member Relations, Ontario Pharmacists Association
The Health Products Stewardship Association is a national not-for-profit organization representing over 140 brand owners and manufacturers responsible for the effective and safe collection and disposal of unused and expired medications and used medical sharps. On behalf of producers, HPSA administers seven collections programs in four provinces with the support of more than 6,000 community pharmacies acting as collection locations. HPSA's mandate is also to educate consumers on the responsibility of safely disposing unwanted medications and medical sharps before they end up in the garbage, poured down sinks, flushed or misused by others. Since its inception, HPSA has collected more than 4,677,811 kg of pharmaceutical products and 3,141,828 kg of medical sharps.
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1 Diabetes Canada. "Diabetes in Canada" https://www.diabetes.ca/advocacy---policies/advocacy-reports/national-and-provincial-backgrounders/diabetes-in-canada
SOURCE Health Products Stewardship Association
For media inquiries please contact: Tenney Loweth; Director, Health, Agnostic, [email protected]
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