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In health care facilities, pharmaceutical waste is generally discharged down the drain or sent to landfill. Poor knowledge about their potential downstream impacts may be a primary factor for improper disposal behavior. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of an intervention program on knowledge and practice of health care staff regarding pharmaceutical waste management. The study was designed as a pre/posttest intervention study. Total sample size was 530 in the pre-intervention phase, and then a subsample of 69 individuals was selected for the intervention and the post-intervention phases. Paired-sample t test was used to assess the difference between pretest and follow-up test results. A statistically significant improvement in knowledge and practice was achieved (P < 0.001). Poor knowledge and poor practice levels (scores <50%) were found to improve to satisfactory levels (scores ≥75%). Therefore, educational programs could be considered as an effective tool for changing health care staff practice in pharmaceutical waste management.Implications: In health care facilities, pharmaceutical waste is generally discharged down the drain or sent to landfill. A lack of knowledge about the potential impacts of this type of waste may be a leading factor in improper disposal behavior. Following an educational program, statistically significant improvement in knowledge and practice of health care staff as regards to pharmaceutical waste management (PWM) was achieved. It is thus recommended that authorities implement training-of-trainers (TOT) programs to educate health care staff on PWM and organize refreshment workshops regularly.PAPER HISTORY

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Background: Unsafe school buildings may adversely affect students, teachers, administrative workers, cleaning workers, and visitors. Objective(s):The aim of the present study was to evaluate the leading safety performance of public, private, and experimental primary school buildings in Alexandria, Egypt. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 30 primary schools in Alexandria selected by stratified cluster sampling. Two observational checklists were designed, validated, and used; including school building safety inspection checklist (SBSIC), and classroom safety inspection checklist (CSIC). The completed checklists were reviewed and coded. The safety performances (SP) for each category and for the overall checklists were then calculated. Results: The SP in private primary schools and classrooms [(66.1±13.0%), (68.7±12.5)] were higher than that of experimental [(59.9±14.0%), (65.1±14.2%)] and public ones [(39.3±7.8%), (46.0±11.8%) respectively]. The most common causes of reduced school SP were "the absence of protective measures against vectors & insects," "the non-daily refuse disposal," "the non-inspected play areas." Other causes included "the irregular fire drills," "the absence of the alarm system," "the non-earthed electrical equipment," "the absence of emergency plan," and "the unmarked tripping/slipping locations." The most frequent unsafe classroom conditions were "the absence of classroom alarm point," "the on-board glare," and "the non-compliant windows to class area ratios." Conclusion: Many safety violations were found to occur in Alexandria primary schools. This would cause a reduction of the safety performance and consequently a lack of safety management. Safety performance in private schools was better than that in experimental and public ones.