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Home > English > Communiqués > Medical emergency in Haiti : don’t send medications for recovery Medical emergency in Haiti :DON’T SEND medications for recovery Communiqué ACTED, CHMP, French Red Cross, MDM, Memisa, MSF, PAH, PHI, ReMeD Several days after the earthquake that devastated Haiti, medical and pharmaceutical associations ACTED, CHMP, the French Red Cross, MDM, MSF, PAH, PHI and ReMeD call people
to NOT SEND non-utilized medications (“MNU”) for recovery. In emergency situations, not all medications are useful
Sending
non-utilized medications creates more problems than it solves. In a zone already inundated with aid coming from every corner of the world, the intake, management and distributions of the medication do nothing but add
their troubles (instructions in different languages, close expiration dates, expired medications, opened bottles, half-empty bottles, etc.). The lack of medical personnel on the ground and the nature of the emergency
situation require good quality medications that are specific to local needs (intravenous antibiotics, perfusions, etc.). “NO” to a second tsunami of non-utilized medications! At the time of the tsunami
that battered Indonesia in December of 2004, tons of medications were transported, and then destroyed. A survey conducted by Pharmacists without Frontiers in 2005 in Aceh province demonstrated that of the more than 4000
tons of medications distributed, 60% aren’t included on the national list for essential medicines, 70% were in foreign languages and 25% had an expiration date that rendered them less useful. The cost of destruction for
600 unusable tons was 2.4 million euros.To learn more, visit : www.drugdonations.org. Useful and effective aid: financial support to medical and pharmaceutical organizations
The teams form
associations, already in place in Haiti, understand the humanitarian landscape, and are well-equipped to evaluate and respond to the needs of the victims. Financial support donated to medical and pharmaceutical
associations present in Haiti permits the purchase of essential medicines, adapted and well-understood by healthcare professionals, along with professional logistical coordination (procurement and supply management) and
a better efficiency for emergency medical structures (mobile clinics) and the dispensation of care. ReMeD
(Réseau médicaments & Développement - Network for Medicine and Development) : www.remed.org / Mathilde Cuchet-Chosseler : mathilde.chosseler@remed.org / (+33) 1.53.80.20.20
And :ACTED (Agence d’aide à la coopération technique et au
développement - Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development) : www.acted.org / Adrien Tomarchio : adrien.tomarchio@acted.org / (+33) 1.42.65.33.33
CHMP (Centrale humanitaire médico-pharmaceutique - Humanitarian medical-pharmaceutical Center) : www.chmp.orgFrench Red Cross : www.croix-rouge.fr MDM (Médecins du monde - Doctors of the World) : www.medecinsdumonde.org
Memisa : www.memisa.frMSF (Médecins sans frontières - Doctors without Borders) : www.msf.fr / Jacques Pinel : jacques.pinel@paris.msf.org
PAH (Pharmacie et Aide humanitaire - Pharmaceutical and Humanitarian Aid) : www.pharmahuma.org / Dominique Rouffy : coordinationhaiti@pharmahuma.org / (+33) 6.18.32.64.38PHI (Pharmacie humanitaire internationale - International Humanitarian Pharmacy) : www.phi.asso.fr / Michèle Bazin Download the communiquéTranslation : Rachel Vannice |
