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Still inappropriate donations taking place
Although there have already been Guidelines since 1996 (revised 1999), inappropriate donations are still taking place. For example:
Mali April 2002: a complaint came in through E-med from the ministry of Health. Several donations, coming from all types of
organisations, were not asked for, many were expiredor close to expiry, not on the essential drugs list, not labelled in French, etc.
Bolivia June 2002, the Canadian Goverment granted as a donation 2.050.000 dosis of Influenza vaccine, with an estimated cost of
USD13.000.000. Despite the refusal of the Bolivian Health Authorities, the vaccine "appeared" in Bolivia, just one week before expiration date.
The bulk expired without adequate use, because it arrived just some weeks before expiry date. No quality or safety tests were provided by the donors and
influenza is not a prevalent problem in Bolivia.
Monitoring
The Consortium is of the opinion that in order to make sure donations are appropriate and knowing what is happening
in the field, monitoring is necessary. And even the WHO itself shares this opinion:
One of the recommendations that were made in the report ‘First-year
experiences with the Interagency Guidelines for drug donations, written by the WHO (published in 2000), was:
“WHO should establish a system whereby recipients and consolidators can report examples of inappropriate donations or unacceptable donation practices.”
Principles of a monitoring system according to the Consortium
There are so many types of donations, they come in all shapes and
sizes. There are also many types of donors, from large pharmaceutical multinationals to a concerned citizen. It will therefore be difficult to be informed
about all of them. In order to reach most of them, the consortium believes the following aspects should be included:
The target group should not be the donors; The main source of potential information can be found at the recipient side. They know
what they receive and whether or not a donation is appropriate.
A general check on as many donations as possible (not only inappropriate ones) should take place based on a series of criteria, set out on a form.
Besides a general check, more ad hoc, in-depth evaluations on some of the donations should take place. It is necessary to go ad hoc
after emergencies and make occasional visits.
How to reach the recipient?
The general check could be done in cooperation with local organisations. They know what is going on
in their countries and are closer to where it is happening. There are WHO officers stationed in many developing countries. It is also possible to use networks
like E-med, which covers the whole of French-speaking countries. Besides the WHO doing in-depth evaluations, one could also think of official inspections by
NGO’s already observing in the area, like MSF, Red Cross.
Do you agree monitoring of the Guidelines on drug donations is necessary? Then give your support!
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