Practice And Factors Influencing The Sale Of Expired Drugs In Pharmacies Of Dhaka, Bangladesh: A Mixed-Methods Study
Summary: Selling expired drug is a significant public health issue in Bangladesh, as it endangers the health of people. According to the existing laws and regulation in Bangladesh, selling expired medicines is a punishable crime. Despite the regulations, selling expired drugs is continued in local pharmacies. Understanding the perspective and attitude of the drug sellers towards selling the expired drugs would allow us to focus on the root cause and tailor a suitable solution for the problem. Hence, the present study has been proposed with an objective of assessment of the practice of expired
This will be a mixed method study with both quantitative and qualitative approach conducted in the pharmacies of Dhaka Metropolitan area from August 2023 to January 2024. As the study will explore a sensitive topic which might be uncomfortable for the participants, snowball sampling method would be suitable for the present study. The quantitative part of the study will be conducted by a face-to-face interview using a semi-structured questionnaire. On the other hand, qualitative data will be collected by key informant interview (KIIs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) to identify the extent of the issue of expired drug selling, perspectives of the drug sellers regarding sale of expired drugs and major challenges of safe disposal of expired drugs. Exploratory data analysis will be carried out to describe the study findings while qualitative data will be analyzed according to the thematic areas.