In the coming days, all patients picking up their prescribed medications at state health pharmacies, Equipos Básicos de Atención Integral en Salud ( Ebáis) – local clinics – and hospitals will receive them in paper bags.
The use of paper bags over plastic following a pilot project in some Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) or Caja, pharmacies such as in Coronado, Cariari, Hatillo, CENARE and the Calderón Guardia hospital.
The strategy aims to minimize the use of single-use plastic bags in pharmacy services to respond to the Environmental Policy approved by the CCSS Board of Directors last year and the call of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). The paper bags and labels are 100% biodegradable and compostable.
The migration to the use of paper bags for the final packaging of medicines that are delivered to users represents an innovation proposal hand in hand with the protection of the environment, and a way of thinking creatively with social responsibility, according to Esteban Vega de la O, Coordinator of the Nacional de Servicios Farmacéuticos de la CCSS.
