Public urged to return old medicines to avoid accidental poisonings

Medicines can seriously harm the environment when products end up in landfill, or permeate into our soil, food chain, and water supply.

The Dispose of Unused Medicines Properly (Dump) campaign allows the public to bring unused or out-of-date medicines to participating pharmacies. File Picture: Pexels

People are being urged to bring unused or out-of-date medicines to their local pharmacies after figures showed that over two-thirds of accidental poisonings involve children in the home.

Cork Kerry Community Healthcare is asking the public to use a free service running for the next six weeks to dispose of medications safely in a bid to avoid accidental poisonings, intentional overdose, inappropriate sharing of medicines, and environmental damage.