It has been observed that one of the leading causes of death in Nigeria arose as a result of food poisoning caused by consuming expired foods and drugs. Most of the perishable goods, drugs being sold have expired before the stated expiry date due to poor and improper storage conditions. There is also a need for malls to be able to monitor and control remote storage facilities.
Based on a recent survey done at Nsukka, Nigeria [1] on the pattern of drug storage practices in homes, patent medical stores and hospital pharmacies to find out whether these drug outfits are suitable for drug storage; whether the drug users at home maintain proper drug storage habit suitable for the maintenance of drug integrity throughout its shelf life, and whether drug users and sellers/dispensers are knowledgeable in the issues of drug storage. The results show that 90% of the people were aware that drugs could spoil. Some of the correspondents kept their drugs in bags (48%), kitchen (4%), bathroom (4%), dining table (32%), top of the refrigerator (26%) and car (14%). 56% mentioned that they did not receive instructions on how to store their drugs. The patent medical stores had lockers (32%), refrigerators (22%), air-conditioning units (10%) and freezers (2%). It had been noted that during the afternoon, in 24% of the shops sunlight enters, and much heat is experienced by 10% of the people. 96% stock their drugs at shop while 10% do so at home and shop. Some of the drug dealers and patent medical store dealers were not actively complaint with labels instructions and general requirements on storage of drugs, which portend vulnerability of these drugs to degradation and loss of potency. Although 88% claimed to understand all label instructions, yet it was only 64% that correctly interpreted “store in a cool dry place”. Some interpreted it as either store at any temperature or store in a freezer. Their percentage may be small but the effect of their ignorance can adversely affect hundreds. In fact, it has been said that if a physician error could terminate a life, then a singular error from the drug manufacturer or dealer can most certainly lead to the loss of many lives.
Currently, a high percentage of Nigerian pharmacies and shopping malls uses manual storage techniques e.g. air conditioners, freezers for storing foods and
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