Newsletter 'Dutch drug donations campaign completed successfully'  Towards better quality of drug donations from the Netherlands. Campaign completed successfully  Good information is important. Especially where the donation of drugs is concerned. Therefore the Committee on Drug Donations (Werkgroep Geneesmiddelendonaties), co-ordinated by the Wemos Foundation, has supported drug donations by developing and distributing educational materials to developing countries and Eastern Europe. This is part of the campaign 'Towards better quality of drug donations from the Netherlands' whose aim was to raise awareness of the possible risks of donating drugs and consequently prevent problems in practice. The Committee completed the campaign successfully in December 1999.  Guidelines for drug donations from the Netherlands The WHO launched the 'Guidelines for drug donations' in May 1996 and many international organisations have now subscribed to them. They were translated and adapted to the Dutch situation in the publication 'Guidelines for drug donations from the Netherlands', and have been distributed in large quantities among pharmacies, doctors and relief organisations. In addition several important Dutch organisations including the national Inspectorate of Health Care, the Royal Dutch Association for the Advancement of Pharmacy (KNMP) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have subscribed to the guidelines for good drug donations. (link aanbrengen) You can click here for a complete list of subscribers. Video: 'Making drug donations better with care' The video presents the inter-agency guidelines for drug donations published by the WHO. Special attention is given to offer alternatives to the donation of medicines that have had to be returned to pharmacies or hospitals. Last year 300 videos were distributed to pharmacists, their assistants, and relief workers. An evaluation showed the video was received positively and regularly used by relief organisations and pharmacies for educational purposes. Internationally the video is also successful with German and English versions and a Spanish one to follow shortly.  Teaching material: 'Education on drug donation'.  Since 1999 students from more than 60 per cent of colleges for assistant pharmacists have been introduced to the issue of donating drugs to developing countries and Eastern Europe. The teaching materials include the video 'Making drug donations better with care', a teacher's manual, a reader with background information and a student fact sheet. Web sitewww.drugdonations.org  The web site 'www.drugdonations.org' provides information on drug donations in seven languages. It was launched in November 1999 and has since been visited more than 3000 times. If you want information about recent developments on the drug donations web site you can subscribe yourself to the electronic mailing list.  Evaluation survey In November 1999 an evaluation survey was carried out in order to make an inventory of the pharmacists who still donate returned drugs, that is those drugs which have already been used by consumers. It also tried to assess how the campaign has contributed to possible changes in drug donation. The campaign has influenced donation behaviour. This is shown by the large percentage of pharmacists (69%) who stopped donating drugs during the campaign and also by the fact 87% percent of the target group, the pharmacists, say they are familiar with the campaign. November 1999 - Evaluation survey into the behaviour, knowledge and attitude of chemists towards the donation of returned drugs and the  awareness-raising campaign 'Towards better quality of drug donations from the Netherlands'. Contributions: Apart from the contributions from members of the Committee on Drug Donations and the Royal Dutch Association for the Advancement of Pharmacy, the campaign was made possible by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Directory-General of International Co-operation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the European Committee.