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Examples of (in)appropriate drug donations
How to add cases: please use this e-mail address (cases.drugdonations@wemos.nl) for adding cases of (inappropriate drug donations that you want to highlight. Please also indicate how you want the information to be
treated. Albania, 1999
A WHO audit of humanitarian drug donations
received in Albania during May 1999 revealed serious quality problems. It was estimated that 50% of the drugs coming into Albania during the Kosovo refugee crisis were inappropriate or useless and would have to be
destroyed. Sixty-five per cent of drugs had an inadequate expiry date (either missing or expiring less than one year from the date of donation); and 32% were identified only by brand names, which were unfamiliar to
Albanian health professionals. None of the short shelf-life donations were requested, and according to aid workers they could not be distributed and used before the end of the year. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1992-1996
Between 1992 and mid-1996 an estimated 17,000 metric tons of
inappropriate donations were received with an estimated disposal cost of US$ 34 million. Former Yugoslavia, 1994, 1995
Of all drug donations received by the WHO field office in Zagreb in
1994, 15% were completely unusable and 30% were not needed. By the end of 1995, 340 tons of expired drugs were stored in Mostar. Most of these were donated by different European nations. Lithuania, 1993
Eleven women in Lithuania temporarily lost their eyesight after using a donated
drug. The drug, closantel, was a veterinary anthelmintic but was mistakenly given to treat endometritis. The drug had been received without product information or package insert, and doctors had tried to identify the
product by matching its name with those on leaflets of other products. Guinea Bissau, 1993
In September 1993 eight tons of donated drugs were sent; all were collected from pharmacies in quantities between 1 and 100 tablets. The donation contained 22,123
packages of 1,714 different drugs which were very difficult to manage and greatly interfered with government efforts to rationalize drug supply and drug use. Russian Federation, 1992
Russian pharmaceutical production has fallen far below its 1990 level, and
donations of drugs have been welcomed. However, initial enthusiasm soured when the nature of some donations was discovered. Examples of donations include: 189,000 bottles of dextromethorfan cough syrup; pentoxifylline
and clonidine as the only antihypertensive items; triamterene and spironolactone as diuretics; pancreatic enzyme and bismuth preparations as the only gastrointestinal drugs. France, 1991
Pharmaciens sans Frontières collected 4 million kg of unused drugs from 4,000
pharmacies in France. These were sorted out in 88 centers in the country. Only about 20% could be used for international aid programs, and 80% were burnt. Sudan, 1990
A large consignment of drugs was sent to war-devastated southern Sudan. Each box
contained a collection of small packets of drugs, some partly used. All were labeled in French, a language not spoken in Sudan. Most drugs were inappropriate, some could be dangerous. These included: contact lens
solution, appetite stimulants, mono-amine oxidase inhibitors (dangerous in Sudan), X-ray solutions, drugs against hypercholesterolaemia, and expired antibiotics. Of 50 boxes, 12 contained drugs of some use.
Eritrea, 1989
During the war for independence, despite careful
wording of appeals, many inappropriate donations were received. Examples were: seven truck loads of expired aspirin tablets that took six months to burn; a whole container of unsolicited cardiovascular drugs with two
months to expiry; and 30,000 half liter bottles of expired amino-acid infusion that could not be disposed of anywhere near a settlement because of the smell. Armenia, 1988
After the earthquake, 5,000 tons of drugs and medical supplies worth US$ 55 million
were sent. This quantity far exceeded needs. It took 50 people six months to gain a clear picture of the drugs that had been received. Eight percent of the drugs had expired on arrival, and 4% were destroyed by frost.
Of the remaining 88%, only 30% were easy to identify and only 42% were relevant for an emergency situation. The majority of the drugs were only labeled with brand names.
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