Try GOLD - Free

nPROUD: Govt's ambitious drive to deal with unused & expired drugs

The New Indian Express Kochi

|

December 10, 2024

To mitigate risk of expired drugs being recycled & misused; pilot project to be rolled out in Jan

- UNNIKRISHNAN S @T'Puram

The drugs control department has launched an ambitious initiative to tackle the growing environmental threat and potential health issues like anti-microbial resistance, posed by unused and expired drugs, such as antibiotics, tablets, ointments, and inhalers.

The programme also aims to mitigate the risk of expired drugs being recycled and misused.

A pilot project will roll out in January in Kozhikode corporation and Ulliyeri panchayat, covering nearly two lakh households and thousands of medical stores.

The initiative comes at a time when large volumes of drug waste are being generated daily.

A similar collection drive by the All Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association (AKCDA) in Thiruvananthapuram five years ago had managed to collect five tonnes of waste in just one month.

MORE STORIES FROM The New Indian Express Kochi

The New Indian Express Kochi

The New Indian Express Kochi

Silent Bowls, Sacred Flavours

In a quiet corner of Busan, Korea where the city seduces with the aroma of street-food, the air holds a different rhythm.

time to read

1 mins

October 05, 2025

The New Indian Express Kochi

The New Indian Express Kochi

'I have a Moral Code for Playing Villains'

Sharon Stone speaks with Katie Ellis about her latest film, Nobody 2, and the controversies that shot her to fame

time to read

3 mins

October 05, 2025

The New Indian Express Kochi

The New Indian Express Kochi

Stew Happens in Ladakh

Shaped by the resilience of mountains, Ladakh's food story runs deeper than just momo and thukpa

time to read

2 mins

October 05, 2025

The New Indian Express Kochi

Fishy Business and Family Feuds

This murder mystery of quirky characters blends Bengali gothic literature with sharp humour and sly feminism

time to read

2 mins

October 05, 2025

The New Indian Express Kochi

The New Indian Express Kochi

Tariffs, Trump, Tradition, and the Tyranny of Tantrums

Only someone in nationalist self-denial will think Donald Trump’s tariffs are taxes, not taunts.

time to read

3 mins

October 05, 2025

The New Indian Express Kochi

Out of Office

Gen Z is rapidly abandoning the traditional 9-to-5 for flexible careers that allow authenticity and viable work hours

time to read

4 mins

October 05, 2025

The New Indian Express Kochi

The New Indian Express Kochi

Honey, I Shrunk the Netherlands

Madurodam in The Hague is preserving Dutch heritage and identity with its ornately designed, functional miniatures

time to read

2 mins

October 05, 2025

The New Indian Express Kochi

GOLDEN DIVIDEND FROM SILVER YEARS

THE human attitude to ageing is ambivalent. The final phase of life is often marked by a decline in utility health and mobility While in certain communities seniors are revered, many languish in neglect.

time to read

3 mins

October 05, 2025

The New Indian Express Kochi

The New Indian Express Kochi

When Our National Spectacle Crushes Its Own

Hathras in 2024 at a religious satsang, where followers stampede in a rush of blind devotion, while the state machinery busies itself trying to control the narrative. Even at the greatest of religious festivals, the Kumbh Mela, where millions gather, crowd-related deaths occur with horrifying regularity, often covered up and casually dismissed as a ‘logistical inevitability.’

time to read

4 mins

October 05, 2025

The New Indian Express Kochi

Peanuts, Priorities, and the Flow of Time

Not long ago, I had a conversation with a CEO who, somewhere between checking his phone and adjusting his tie, declared: “I just don’t have time to pursue what I really want.” It was a very solemn moment. Almost moving. Had it not been for the fact that, during our 20-minute chat, he checked his phone 17 times. That's once every 45 seconds—20 if you subtract the part where he closed his eyes and said “Mmm” to pretend he was listening

time to read

2 mins

October 05, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size