E-drug: Re: Drug donations and the Kosovo crisis (cont'd)
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Dear e-druggers,
Replying to Leo Offerhaus' and Beverly Snell's message on e-drug about
drug donations and the Kosovo crises I have the following for you:
WHO just the day before yesterday released a press announcement about
drug donations going to the Kosovo region. The Internet-site where the
press release can be found is http://www.who.dk/cpa/pr99/pr9910e.htm.
The ALBANIAN REFERENCE LIST OF DRUGS can be found at
http://www.who.dk/cpa/kosovo/drugs.htm (in Acrobat format).
On earlier 'health updates' on the WHO-Euro sites
(http://www.who.dk/cpa/kosovo/update.htm) you can find the following
text:
'Several tonnes of drugs and medical supplies for humanitarian relief have been
donated to The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Several problems have
been
identified. Normally shipments are taken over by the Ministry of Health,
stored in the state "Replek" warehouse, and then distributed through the
country's normal channels. Some donations, arriving in military cargoes,
have been unloaded without any control and transferred to the camps without
a plan for their distribution. A mismatch between supply and need is
emerging. Most of the drugs are related to the emergency; very few are for
chronic health problems. The Ministry of Health has now released a list of
drugs needed. WHO guidelines on drug donations have been forwarded to all
NGOs, and specific drug donation guidelines for the country are being prepared.'
Especially the line 'A mismatch between supply and need is emerging' leads
me to expect the worst, let's all hope that we have learned from the Bosnian
civil war and the donation problems. Although the WHO press release states:
"... applauds the tremendous outpouring of humanitarian support for the
Kosovo refugees and displaced persons", but at the same time warns for
following the guidelines for drug donations I think the international NGO
community can be more clear and progressive in its message. With the
widespread and tremendous media attention for the Kosovo-crises many
donations of medicines (and also other goods) are
driven by the need to give, and not by a clear assessment of real need for
medicines. That's what we all should warn for, often not a welcome message
in times when we all want to help.
Greetings,
Mark Raijmakers
mark.raijmakers@wemos.nl
Wemos Foundation
P.O. Box 1693
1000 BR Amsterdam - The Netherlands
Telephone +31-20-4.688.388
Fax +31-20-4.686.008
pharmaceuticals@wemos.nl
http://www.wemos.nl
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