IN A BID to curb the improper disposal of medicines and protect the environment, the UST Faculty of Pharmacy has rolled out “Recipio,” a year-round medication take-back program.
Derived from the Latin word recipio, meaning “to recover” or “take back,” the initiative encourages Thomasians to return unused or expired medicines through designated disposal bins, ensuring these substances do not pollute the environment or endanger public health.
Launched on Sept. 25, 2019, during World Pharmacists’ Day, Recipio is the first and remains the only medicine take-back program in the Philippines.
“What we wanted to do is to educate the public on the proper disposal [of medicines]. This is in connection with the Laudato Si’ of Pope Francis on care for the environment,” Pharmacy Dean Aleth Therese Dacanay told the Varsitarian.
The program began as Dacanay’s personal project for the Faculty of Pharmacy’s sesquicentennial anniversary in 2021.
In 2019, she and her team benchmarked with Monash University in Australia, which had a similar program. Seeing its success, Dacanay brought the idea home and adapted it for UST.
“Baka sa bahay ninyo may mga gamot sa ref, mga tira-tira. Bakit may tira? Dapat wala. And if there is, dapat alam natin kung paano itatapon,” she said, emphasizing that Recipio aims to address common household practices that lead to improper medicine use and disposal.
Many Filipinos, she said, tend to keep expired or leftover medicines, believing they could still be used.
From its first installation of disposal booths in 2019, Recipio quickly grew into a campus-wide advocacy.
Students and faculty members volunteer as “Recipio advocates,” pledging to educate others about proper medicine disposal.
During the pandemic, the initiative continued through an online caravan that encouraged students to safely dispose of expired medications at home.
“Unang-una, nagkaroon kami ng volunteers and then nagpe-pledge sila to become advocates. Para sa ganon, bawat isang tao, magkakaroon tayo ng role on how we take care of the environment through proper disposal of medicines.”
The Faculty of Pharmacy collaborates with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to develop proper disposal mechanisms and secure funding support, Dacanay said.
The Laboratory Equipment and Supplies Office (LESO) also coordinates with accredited third-party contractors for treatment and disposal through incineration or chemical neutralization.
“You have to treat it, and then outsource it for proper collection and disposal. There’s also treatment through incineration or chemical methods to neutralize hazardous substances,” Dacanay said.
The Pharmacy dean hopes to institutionalize Recipio as a nationwide policy on pharmaceutical waste disposal.
She said the Department of Health’s (DOH) waste management guidelines, as outlined in Presidential Decree 856, only briefly address medication disposal, leaving a gap in national policy.
“Looking at the DOH, meron lang one-sentence provision on waste management about medication disposal. My big dream for Recipio is for this to become a national policy.”
Recently, the Faculty of Pharmacy presented the program to the NSWMC, which, Dacanay said, was considering supporting the project as part of national environmental and health policy.
Under existing law, healthcare operators are merely advised to handle biomedical waste using protective equipment, but no comprehensive rule exists for take-back systems of expired or unused drugs.
To amplify Recipio’s impact, Pharmacy conducts orientations with student councils and college organizations to integrate the project into their environmental initiatives.
Dacanay hopes Thomasians can replicate the advocacy at home by becoming certified Recipio advocates.
“Everything begins with ourselves first,” she said. “Kaya ang education namin is one-by-one, bawat estudyante, hoping that it can multiply. Imagine 40,000 Thomasians, if each educates just three others, that’s 120,000 people already made aware.”
The program has expanded to include other forms of waste such as syringes, gloves, masks, electronic waste, and chemical waste.
Thomasians may drop their pharmaceutical or laboratory waste at the Recipio bin on the second floor of the Main Building, beside the Pharmacy Dean’s Office.
Advocating patient safety
Beyond Recipio, the Faculty of Pharmacy advances patient safety by deploying Doctor of Pharmacy students — licensed pharmacists — to the UST Health Service for their ambulatory care rotation.
“So if you go to the health service and see someone dispensing medicines, they’re now pharmacists. Among higher education institutions, I think this is the first time a school health service has pharmacists directly overseeing patients’ medication use,” she said.
These pharmacists manage drug inventories, provide counseling, and ensure safe medication practices, particularly during the University’s vaccination programs.
UST is also one of the few universities with faculty members certified as immunizing pharmacists under a national program.
“With pharmacists in the health service, nurses can focus on their work, and we’re assured that medicines are used safely and appropriately,” Dacanay said.
