In our new animated video, we show how medical doctors can reduce unnecessary pharmaceutical emissions and waste by adopting simple prescription practices, educating patients, and leveraging their trusted voice to change procurement and prescription practices.
Between 30 and 90% of orally administered pharmaceuticals are excreted into wastewater as active substances by patients. As wastewater treatment plants have a low removal efficiency for most pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical residues can end up in the environment where they can negatively impact human, animal and environmental health.
Tackling pharmaceutical pollution requires a multidisciplinary approach, in which medical doctors have a key role to play.