Medicines play a very significant role for treating many diseases and conditions, but at the end of the treatment it is very important to dispose them of properly. So, the knowledge and awareness of proper drug disposal are essential for safe environment. Lack of knowledge and practice can lead to various problems like environmental pollution and various health hazards directly or indirectly. Hence, the study was aimed to assess the knowledge, practice, and awareness towards disposal of unused / expired drugs among healthcare professionals such as doctor, medical students, pharmacy students and nurses. This was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital. About 400 participants in each category were included in the study. The questionnaire consisted of three parts which included demography, and multiple choice questions related to knowledge and awareness of the drug disposal. The collected data was expressed in percentage. A total of 393 participants have completed the survey which includes 32% males and 68% females. It was found that the commonest discarding pattern of the expired/ unused medicines was through household trash (67%). A total of 349 (89%) were aware of the significance of improper disposal. It was observed that the participants 44(11.1%) had partial knowledge about proper drug disposal but there was a lack of practice 264 (67.1%) of safe disposal methods. This study aimed to create an awareness to bridge the lacunae between knowledge, practice of proper and environmental safe methods of disposing expired/ unused drugs among health care professionals.

Objective: The aim of this study was to carry out adverse drug reactions (ADRs) monitoring in various departments of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted on ADRs reported in the hospital from December 2012 to May 2013 after obtaining Institutional Ethics Committee approval.Results: A total of 40 ADRs were reported, 47.50% were males and 52.50% were females. The female adult population was 45%. The majority of ADRs were due to antimicrobial agents especially beta-lactam antibiotics (42.5%) followed by NSAIDs (7.50%). A maximum number of patients (75%) were reported with dermatological manifestations. The department of medicine reported the highest number of ADRs (37.5%). As per Naranjo's probability scale, 62.5% reports were assessed as probable. 62.5% reports were documented as mild according to Modified Hartwig's criteria for severity assessment. Conclusion:This study was done to sensitize the practicing physicians on the importance of adverse drug monitoring and reporting.

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Sir,The National Medical Commission (NMC) is a dynamic organization constituted to revamp medical education all over the nation by imparting changes in the medical curriculum and criteria for teaching faculty. The core objective of recent regulations on teachers eligibility qualifications in Medical Institutions, 2022 is to promote a uniform teaching standard among medical institutions functioning under the scope of NMC.