How to avoid losses from expired medicines

A medicine that expires on the shelf is money thrown away: you paid your supplier for it, and you will never be able to sell it. For a small pharmacy, a few boxes lost every month quickly eat into the margin.

It is also a health issue: an expired product must never reach a patient. The good news is that most of these losses can be avoided with a few regular habits, whether your pharmacy is in Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, Kampala or Dar es Salaam.

1. Record the expiry date of every batch on delivery

It all starts when the delivery arrives. The same product can come in several batches, each with a different expiry date. If you only write down "50 boxes of paracetamol", you will not know which ones expire first.

The right habit: for every delivery, record the batch number, the expiry date and the quantity. Everything else depends on it.

2. Use the "first expired, first out" rule on the shelf

Put the boxes that expire first at the front of the shelf, and the newest ones behind. That way the oldest batch always goes first, and an old batch never stays hidden at the back while new stock is sold.

Explain the rule to the whole team: it only takes one person shelving a delivery in front of the old stock for the problem to come back.

3. Watch expiry dates well in advance

Finding an expired batch on the day a customer asks for it is too late. You need to spot batches approaching their date several months ahead: at three months, you still have time to act.

Set yourself a regular slot, for example at the start of every month, to review the batches that expire soon.

4. Act on batches close to their expiry date

A batch that expires in a few months is not lost yet. You have several options:

• put it forward and sell it first;
• ask your supplier whether a return or an exchange is possible, under the terms agreed with them;
• offer the product to a partner pharmacy that needs it, in line with the rules of your country;
• do not reorder that product until the current stock is sold.

5. Order according to your real sales

Many expired products come from oversized orders, often placed to get a discount. A discount is only worth it if you sell the product before it expires.

Before ordering, check how much of each product you really sell per month. For slow-moving products, order small quantities more often.

6. Block and remove expired products immediately

An expired product must leave the shelf straight away. Keep it in a clearly marked place, take it out of your sellable stock, and follow the medicine disposal rules that apply in your country.

What matters is that it can no longer be sold, even by mistake, by a staff member in a hurry on a busy day.

7. Run regular stock counts

Regularly count what is really on the shelves and compare it with what you think you have. A stock count reveals forgotten batches, data entry errors and discrepancies. Once a month for expensive products and once a quarter for the rest is a good rhythm.

How Phagestion helps

Phagestion was designed for pharmacies across Africa and applies these habits for you:

• every medicine is recorded by batch, with its expiry date;
• expired batches and those expiring within 90 days are flagged automatically;
• at the point of sale, an expired batch is blocked: it cannot be sold by mistake;
• reports show what you really sell, so you order the right quantities;
• stock counts use a printable sheet, and the stock is corrected in one click.

It works on phone and computer, in 48 African countries and in your own currency. You can try it free for 7 days, with every feature included.