E-drug: Drug donations (cont)
---------------------------------------------
Dear E-Drug members,
It appears that donations of drugs, that do not conform to WHO
guidelines, is continuing in some countries. On a recent trip to PNG I was
shocked to see the amount of these inappropriate products "dumped" in one
of the major hospitals. The staff, already under considerable pressure to
provide an adequate service, find themselves severely hindered rather than
helped by these drug donations. It was clear no communication was
attempted by the donors to determine if the hospital could actually use the
products or indeed if there was overall benefit of providing the products.
Unfortunately there is the naive understanding in some developed
countries, that any drugs sent to poor and needy places around the world,
must be good for them. "They should be grateful".
We are all aware of how responsible partnership in essential drug provision
can hugely benefit some health care programs, but we must continue to
educate potential donors about the complexity of essential drug programs
and quality use of medicines and the need for appropriate donations,
without dampening their enthusiasm to "help out" . A difficult task
continues.
Dr Phillip Passmore
PSM International Pty Ltd
PO BOX 392
Como . 6152
Tel 618 93674661
Fax 618 93674662
email. psmint@iinet.net.au
--
Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.