E-DRUG: Review of the interagency New Emergency Health Kit 98
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[A chance for 2700+ e-druggers to comment on this kit! Think about that next
earthquake, war, emergency, and what essential drugs you would like to be
available, just in case it happened on your doorstep... WB]
Dear e-druggers,
The interagency New Emergency Health Kit was last updated in 1998 and is now
being reviewed. The kit is intended as a primary healthcare start up kit to
provide medicines and materials for 10,000 people for 3 months. It was never
intended for re-supply after the early phase of an emergency. The booklet
explaining the kit has been translated into Bengali, French, Russian,
Spanish and the contents into Indonesian. The English, French and Spanish
versions are on:
http://www.who.int/medicines/library/par/new-emergency-health-kit/nehken.sht
ml
There are a number of issues which require discussion and resolution.
It has been possible to identify the destinations of 2110 kits sent during
2001 and 2002 and the majority are to malarial zones. The 1998 kit contains
antimalarials as it was considered justifiable as the cost of including
these medicines to non malarial zones was acceptable. As a result of
objections to the inclusion of antimalarials in kits going to non malaria
zones (e.g. the Balkans) and the increased problematic complexity of
antimalarial resistance the provision of an antimalarial medicine module is
being considered. These would be provided unless a specific request was made
not to include them. This is a subject of discussion.
The provision of only single use disposable syringes was discussed in 1998
and it was agreed to provide a small number of reusable syringes. Perhaps
the time has now come to exclude the reusable syringes from the kit.
The medicine recommended in 1998 for emergency contraception needs to be
changed to be in line with WHO Reproductive Health and Research Department
recommendations and the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines.
The recommendations in Annexes 1, 2 and 3 of the booklet contain basic
treatment guidelines, assessment and treatment of diarrhoea and management
of the child with cough or breathing difficulty. These are being reviewed
for concurrence with the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness
recommendations.
The original epidemiological basis for medicines quantities and field
testing with refugee populations was undertaken by different organizations
in the 1980s. The kit is limited and defined by volume, weight, cost and
type of end-user. Since 1998 there have been remarkably few negative
comments received and the overall concept and content seems to have stood
the test of time but updating is required.
It would be useful to draw on the experience of e-druggers, who have used
the kit, for their experience and suggestions. Comments to grayr@who.int
<mailto:grayr@who.int> would be appreciated.
Thanks in anticipation of your help.
Dr Robin Gray
Medical Officer
WHO/EDM/PAR
grayr@who.int
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