E-DRUG: SA Northern Province floods & donations
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Dear E-druggers,
I have now experienced what it is to receive useless medicine donations for
a particular disaster.
I am not going to name the countries but it really seems like they sent
medicines that are of no use to them ( or they collected it from
manufacturers, wholesalers or retailers). The stock is damaged, near expiry
and certainly not suited for a flood disaster.
Donations like tanning lotion, eau de cologne, electronic toothbrushes and
so forth were received. We managed to separate the bandages, syringes and
needles from the rest, but once again, the language on the packs causes a
problem as no English appear on the pack and specialised items like
colostomy bags, dripsets are now hardly of any use. In South Africa we are
use 15 drops and 60 drops sets and we have received 20 drops sets and these
are not clearly marked to see the difference.
Not any of the medicines are registered in South Africa and this now causes
a legal problem for my pharmacists and I am not prepared to but them at
risk.
Some clinics have not received stock for a considerable time and a backlog
in normal stock's delivery has built up. Hospitals have indicated that they
have enough stocks to supply the clinics but due to bad roads and wash away
bridges they cannot deliver. In todays meeting it was decided that those
clinics with backlogs will be identified and a helicopter will pick up the
supplies at the hospital and transport it to the clinics.
Malaria is starting to build up and we are really facing down the barrels of
a double barreled shotgun, if we cannot get sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (Fansidar)
urgently, the local supplier is battling to keep up with the normal demand.
If anybody can donate or sell us (at a reasonable price) a large quantity of
this product it will be greatly appreciated - we are prepared to repack and
relabel the product for our clinics and hospitals.
Danie Meyer
[Thanks Danie for your account!
Donations of S/P however need to be registered in South Africa. Presently only
Fansidar of Roche is registered in SA. So any generic donation will need a special
permit from the Drug Regulatory Authority (MCC) before it can enter the country.
So 'good' donations are not very wasy either... WB]
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