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Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

Leicestershire charity recycles £10m of waste medicine

Latest figures from the National Audit Office suggest about £800m worth of drugs dispensed to patients in the UK is unused and going to waste.

Inter Care, based in Syston, send surplus medicines to people living in poverty in rural Africa.

The charity recycles quality in-date patient returned medicines from about 1,000 GPs across the country.

A charity spokesman said: "As a small charity we are able to make a huge impact - for every £1 donated we are able to send £4 worth of medicines.

"We have over 40 trained volunteers, many of whom are former GPs, pharmacists and nurses who help screen and quality control all the medicines we recycle.

"These unused medicines are literally lifesavers to people in desperately poor parts of Africa who would otherwise be unable to afford them, or even in some cases may be treated at a health centre that simply cannot obtain them."

From BBC News Website. To view please follow this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-17112737

 

Topics: Drugs, Health, General