The Beyond-Use Date Perception of Drugs in North Jakarta, Indonesia

Beyond-Use Date (BUD) refers to the unsafe period of drug consumption and is calculated from the moment of opening the primary package. Meanwhile, Indonesia has no current related data, in terms of public awareness. Therefore, this research aims to assess the BUD perception of North Jakarta communities and pharmacists’ roles in providing the relevant information. The data collection process employed a semi-structural interview across 6 districts in the research location between September-November 2019, followed by data transcription and thematic development. Based on 60 informants recruited by purposive sampling, three themes were obtained, including residual drug storage, pharmacists’ contributions, and BUD awareness. Furthermore, about 97% of the respondents were completely unaware of the subject matter, while 100% denied having any form of sensitization from pharmacists. The perception of 50% were based on the expiration date labelled on the medications. In summary, North Jakarta community’s views were possibly influenced by very poor BUD knowledge. Therefore, the role of pharmacists in educating patients and communities appears very essential.