E-drug: Expired-shelf life medicines
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I am a member of the Oakland California Santiago Cuba Sister City
Association which recently signed an agreement with Santiago de Cuba.
Jerry Brown the mayor of Oakland, California, former governor of
California, former democratic presidential candidate for U.S.
President signed the agreement. Kaiser Health Foundation has donated
$60,000 worth of medicines to be sent to Cuba. I read the Wall Street
Journal Article that was sent to health organizations on march 30
2000. Do you have anymore recent material that shows that it is
alright to ship expired shelf life medicines to foreign countries. In
California you can go to any flea market and find shelf-life
medicines for sale. The reason I am looking for further documentation
on the positive use of those medicines is because there is a minor
dispute in our organization over whether their medicines should be
sent to Cuba.
Thanks
Clifford Sweet
2717 Webster Street Berkeley California
94705 510-843-3606
[There are International Interagency guidelines for donations of
drugs and medical supplies to developing countries. Secondhand and
expired drugs must not be donated.
The full text of the guidelines covers all aspects and is at
http://www.who.int/medicines/teams/par/edm_doccentre.html
Here are some excerpts:
All donated drugs should comply with quality standards in both the
donor and recipient country.
Justification
This provision prevents double standards. For example, donations of
unused drugs (returned drugs from patients or doctors free samples),
which would not be acceptable for use in in the donor country should
not be donated to another country.
All donated drugs should have a remaining shelf-life of at least one
year after the arrival in the recipient country.
Justification
Considerable periods of time may elapse before donated drugs are
transported, cleared through customs, relocated to a warehouse,
contents identified and recorded, and the drugs dispatched to the
place of use. Distribution may take many months as drugs are moved
from a central store, to provincial stores, to district hospitals and
other peripheral health facilities. Very few possibilities for
immediate distribution exist. BS]
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