Prevalence and Prioritization of Unsafe Drugs, Food and Cosmetics at Pakpanang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province

Abstract

Objective: To study the prevalence and prioritization of unsafe drugs, food and cosmetics in Pakpanang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province Methods: This research was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The subjects were 200 households selected by stratified random sampling. The population was stratified by sub-district. In each sub-district, the researcher randomly selected 1/3 of the total number of villages in the sub-district. Households were chosen using systematic random method. The District Consumer Protection Working Group of 13 people who had been trained as research assistants in collecting the data on drugs, food and cosmetics used in households by interviewing the subjects, observing products, checking legal compliance of product labels with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database. In addition, the researcher also examined product safety using the database of the Department of Medical Sciences, FDA brochures of prohibited cosmetics, and also tested suspected drug and food products with steroid test kits.  Method for prioritizing unsafe products was borrowed from that in the handbook on prioritization of unsafe products for consumer protection at the district level by the Program for Developing Knowledge and Health Consumer Protection Mechanisms, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University. The method involved the application of risk assessment criteria and assessment criteria for feasibility to resolve the problems by discussing the evidence and summarizing the opinions of the District Consumer Protection Working Group. Results: The most common unsafe products were left-over antibiotics (10.5% of households surveyed), followed by ya chud (7%) and drugs without registration numbers (6.5%). The presence of unsafe drugs was most prevalent in Pakpanang municipality (17.5% of households with unsafe drugs), followed by Khlong Noi sub-district (11.1%), West Pakpanang sub-district and Ko Thuat sub-district (7.9%). The prevalence of unsafe food was higher in Parakum, Ban Mai and Tha Phaya Subdistrict (25 percent of households with unsafe food). The prevalence of households with unsafe cosmetics was highest at Pakpanang municipality (33.3 percent of households with unsafe cosmetics), East Pakpanang sub-district (19 percent), Ban Mai and Khlong Noi sub-district (14.3 percent). Prioritization of drugs, food and cosmetics revealed top 5 problems as followed: 1. prohibited cosmetics 2. ya-chud and left-over/unused antibiotics 3. drugs with detected steroids 4. cosmetics with labels violating the law and 5. drugs with no registration number and food supplements without serial number. Conclusion: Resolving the problems on unsafe products in Pakpanang district, Nakhon Si Thammarat should be an important policy of the District Quality of Life Development Committee by coordinating with relevant network partners to focus on the first 3 categories of drugs, food and cosmetics that are not safe, including prohibited cosmetics, ya-chud and left-over/unused antibiotics and drugs with detected steroids. These products are with high risk and high feasibility for resolving.