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DEVELOPING THE ROLE OF THE ROMANIAN COMMUNITY PHARMACY IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

ALEXANDRA TOMA *, OFELIA CRIŞAN

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Environmental pollution with medicines is a major problem against which the best solutions are sought, in the context of a risk of contamination present in all activities relating to medicines, including those specific to the community pharmacy. The objective of the paper was to identify the best ways for developing the role of the Romanian community pharmacy in environmental protection. We performed documentary research on the websites of professional associations and pharmacies in Romania to find relevant documents, which we submitted to a thematic analysis. The community pharmacy can contribute to the protection of the environment in many ways, from reducing the waste of medicines, by promoting rational use practices and providing appropriate services for patient adherence to treatment, to collecting waste medicines from the population. In Romania, the community pharmacy is too little involved in environmental protection, therefore proper regulation of its role is necessary, combined with the will of pharmacy owners and professional associations to develop it. The most accessible ways to involve the Romanian community pharmacy include adopting institutional green policies and providing information to the population regarding the best practices for environmental protection.