Publication: Drug Donations in Post-Emergency Situations
Date
2002-06
ISSN
Published
2002-06
Author(s)
Autier, Philippe
Gray, Robin
Lakshminarayanan, Rama
Nassery, Homira G.
Schmets, Gerard
Abstract
The objectives of this project were to
conduct situation analyses on drug donations in East Timor
(post-conflict country), El Salvador and Gujarat State in
India (both affected by earthquakes), and Mozambique
(floods), applying criteria derived from the Interagency
Guidelines for Drug Donations; to determine how and whether
the implementation of the Guidelines has affected the
processes and outcomes of drug donations; and to build
evidence to facilitate wider acceptance of the Guidelines.
The study teams undertook to identify the organizations
responsible for inappropriate donations, a step not often
taken in earlier investigations. This information can now be
used to facilitate educational initiatives aimed at
preventing similar problems in the future. Awareness of the
Guidelines was high and appropriate drug donations were made
in El Salvador, Gujarat State in India and East Timor. In
Mozambique, it was found that even with strong recipient
awareness of the Guidelines and country ownership of the
drug donation process, dumping and inappropriate donations
occurred. International donors did not follow requests made
by the Mozambique Government, and disruption of
administrative systems by the floods affected capacity to
ensure proper management of drug supplies. In the four
countries, drug needs in the first few days following the
emergency were often met through buffer stocks. A common
feature noted in Gujarat, East Timor and El Salvador was
that, in most instances, adequate drug supplies were
provided during the acute phase of the disaster through the
use of local buffer stocks, as well as by major donor
agencies with expertise in providing immediate disaster aid
of good quality. In the case of Gujarat, the presence of a
large domestic pharmaceutical production capacity in India
significantly aided the swift response following the
occurrence of the earthquake. In Mozambique, warehouses that
contained buffer stocks were flooded. The effectiveness of
logistics software systems was closely dependent on local
capacity and sustainability of the systems. The decision to
use them for emergencies needs to be re-examined since the
effectiveness of these tools is disputed. In India and
Mozambique, elaborate manual record-keeping systems that the
local staff were familiar with and experienced in
maintaining, served as a better source of information than
computer based systems that were not updated, lacked
functioning equipment and required staff knowledgeable in
the use of the program. In all four countries, no evidence
was found to suggest that improvements are needed to the
Guidelines. However, there is a continuing need for improved
dissemination, mainly among specific donor groups such as
bilateral organizations, diasporas and smaller
organizations. Such targeting of information on drug
donation practices would improve future outcomes.
Citation
“Autier, Philippe; Govindaraj, Ramesh; Gray, Robin; Lakshminarayanan, Rama; Nassery, Homira G.; Schmets, Gerard. 2002. Drug Donations in Post-Emergency Situations. Health, nutrition and population (HNP)
discussion paper series;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/0a8e1fa0-7500-587f-98cd-5c73ff6de18d License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”