A number of policy recommendations identify the general public as a key participant in environmentally sustainable pharmaceutical policies. However, research into pharmaceuticals-related environmental issues from the population perspective is scarce. We studied the awareness among Finnish adults (n = 2030) of pharmaceutical residues in Finnish waterways, their perceived environmental sources, views on pharmaceuticals-related environmental issues, and their association with background characteristics. Of the respondents, 89.5% were aware of the presence of pharmaceuticals in Finnish waterways. Wastewaters from the pharmaceutical industry were most frequently, and pharmaceuticals excreted by humans least frequently, considered a major environmental source of pharmaceuticals. The vast majority of the respondents were worried about the environmental and health impact of pharmaceutical residues and emphasized issues such as the importance of environmentally sustainable actions by pharmaceutical companies and the recyclability of the pharmaceutical packaging materials. Age, education, use of prescription medicines, and environmental attitude were associated with awareness of pharmaceutical residues, while gender, age, education level, and environmental attitude were associated most frequently with pharmaceuticals-related environmental considerations. These results indicate a need for improved communication about the environmental effects of pharmaceuticals and the significance of different pharmaceutical emission sources in order to promote a more environmentally friendly, effective pharmaceutical policy.
The use of pharmaceuticals is their main pathway to the environment, making the public a major stakeholder in environmentally friendly pharmaceutical policies, including an environmental classification system for medicines. We studied the Finnish adult population’s (n = 2030) preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for an environmentally friendly pharmaceutical policy by means of an online survey employing a discrete choice experiment (DCE). We also studied the relative importance of the policy attributes, namely, the environmental impact, geographical scope, available information about the environmental impact of a pharmaceutical, and the effect of the respondents’ general environmental attitudes on the WTP. The total annual WTP of the Finnish adult population ranges from 37 million to 134 million euros, depending on the attribute levels. Moreover, the environmental attitude of a respondent had a significant impact on the WTP. Generally, the environmental impact of the policy was the most important attribute, the geographical scope of the policy the second, and information about the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals was the third most important attribute. However, the most environmentally friendly respondents preferred information as the second important attribute. This study provides insights into the environmental valuations of the public to be used in preparing new pharmaceutical policy measures.
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