Former and current students of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences are involved in creating Hungary’s first online map of needle colletion points. In Hungary, more than 100,000 people use intravenous or subcutaneous injections on a daily basis. The project’s aim is to get as many patients as possible to dispose of used needles at the designated collection points.
Only 28% of Hungarians dispose of used needles as hazardous waste at the designated points specified by the law. The team of the Conscious Drug Use Association (Tudatos Gyógyszerhasználat Egyesület), who are working on Hungary’s first online map for needle collection points, are working on improving this ratio. There are former and current students of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences among the creators of Needle Map.
“Based on the results of our 2019 representative market research related to pharmaceutical waste, it turned out that returning used needles is a serious challenge in Hungary for both patients and the pharmaceutical profession as well”, emphasized Dr. Nikolett Kulcsár, project lead.
Since they received several inquiries about the opportunities of returning used needles, the idea of an interactive, online map for needle colletion points was born.
The idea of teh project came from Dr. Nikolett Kulcsár and Dr. Janka Kocsis, former students of Semmelweis University’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, who graduated in 2016 and 2014 respectively. As volunteers of the Hungarian Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (HuPSA), they got involved in activities raising awareness of pharmaceutical waste. Zsófia Faragó-Bodor, Virág Király, Noémi Nagy and Marcell Pavlicsek are students at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, who participate in the project trying to make the most accurate data available to visitors on the online map. The team, which consists of volunteers, visit every hospital and clinic and record the precise location of the needle disposal points. Verified data are entered into the continuously expanding NeedleMap, where in addition to the address and telephone number, the exact location of the special box for needles within the building is also indicated. The online map is easy to use, it is free and is available for everybody. The users are able to see the collection points by providing their location, then plan their route and dispose of the used needles. The Needle Map is available at this web link.
A lot of patient groups are concerned, such as mothers after Caesarean section, people with diabetes, patients recovering after a bone fracture. According to the estimations of the Mindful Drug Use Association, more than 100,000 people use intravenous or subcutaneous injections in households on a daily basis in Hungary (mostly subcutaneous injections).
The proper administration of blood thinner injection to a person can be viewed in an educational video prepared by Semmelweis University.
After the injection is given to the patient, many people throw the used needles in municipal waste, although used needles are considered hazardous waste. Some people try to return the used needles to pharmacies. Beyond raising public awareness, Needle Map aims at addressing pharmaceutical students and pharmacists as well.
“Patient education and pharmaceutical care are very important tasks. On the basis of our experiences, patients require and need to receive information from a reliable source, from pharmacists and chemists. It is very important for us to make sure that more an more pharmaceutical students hear about our initiative”, said Dr. Nikolett Kulcsár.
Dóra Vas
Photo: Attila Kovács – Semmelweis University
Translation: Katalin Illés-Romhányi
