Charity aims to distribute donated drugs to developing countries
http://www.100md.com
《英国医生杂志》
A charity was launched last week with the aim of obtaining in-date medicines from UK pharmaceutical companies and distributing them to countries in the developing world. The work of International Health Partners UK (IHP) will be modelled on that of its Canadian partner organisation, which has in the past 10 years distributed drugs overseas with a wholesale value of $C150m (￡67m; $125m; 96m).
The organisation will seek donations of quality in-date medicines and medical supplies from UK drug companies and distribute them in accordance with WHO guidelines and Red Cross protocols.
The organisation estimates that up to ￡100m of suitable drugs and medical supplies could be available each year. Some of these drugs would be a result of production surpluses, which would otherwise be destroyed, others from extending production runs at relatively limited cost.
Carston Hennings, director of International Health Partners, said, "IHP is creating the infrastructure that will allow product donations to be made with all the appropriate checks and procedures in place. This infrastructure does not exist at present."
The organisation will donate to specific aid agencies and hospitals and be involved in providing drugs and medical supplies for disaster relief.
The charity will take requests from healthcare professionals wanting donated drugs for volunteer work in developing countries. For this purpose it will produce travel packs containing 45 products from 30 different companies. Each pack aims to serve the primary care needs of 1000 people.
The first travel pack was given this week to Sheila Webb, GP and director of public health at Bradford City NHS Trust, who will be going to Bangladesh later this month. She will be travelling with Antony Tucker, an ear, nose, and throat surgeon at the Bradford Royal Infirmary, to offer medical care to poor people in Dhaka. Both doctors are founding members of the charity Dig Deep for Bangladesh.
Dr Tucker said that on previous trips they had had limited success in getting supplies from individual companies: "We have more drugs for this trip than we could ever have gathered on our own. IHP will work to coordinate demands and thereby produce a better response."
International Health Partners produces packs containing 45 products to serve the primary care needs of 1000 people
At the launch at the House of Lords, Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham and financial secretary to the treasury, said: "Alongside donations, we also need to be developing differential pricing of medicines in poor country markets—selling at or near cost to developing countries facing acute health challenges—to encourage the long term development of sustainable and competitive markets."
But ActionAid's HIV/AIDS campaigner Simon Wright last week questioned the value of pharmaceutical company donations of unwanted medicines and warned that long term solutions involved rights to medicines not charitable donations: "This is not a solution. People in poor countries need the right to long term access to medicines rather than ad hoc donations.
"Pharmaceutical companies should not hide behind a smokescreen. They must allow and support developing countries to produce their own generic copies of patented medicines."(Kathryn Godfrey)
The organisation will seek donations of quality in-date medicines and medical supplies from UK drug companies and distribute them in accordance with WHO guidelines and Red Cross protocols.
The organisation estimates that up to ￡100m of suitable drugs and medical supplies could be available each year. Some of these drugs would be a result of production surpluses, which would otherwise be destroyed, others from extending production runs at relatively limited cost.
Carston Hennings, director of International Health Partners, said, "IHP is creating the infrastructure that will allow product donations to be made with all the appropriate checks and procedures in place. This infrastructure does not exist at present."
The organisation will donate to specific aid agencies and hospitals and be involved in providing drugs and medical supplies for disaster relief.
The charity will take requests from healthcare professionals wanting donated drugs for volunteer work in developing countries. For this purpose it will produce travel packs containing 45 products from 30 different companies. Each pack aims to serve the primary care needs of 1000 people.
The first travel pack was given this week to Sheila Webb, GP and director of public health at Bradford City NHS Trust, who will be going to Bangladesh later this month. She will be travelling with Antony Tucker, an ear, nose, and throat surgeon at the Bradford Royal Infirmary, to offer medical care to poor people in Dhaka. Both doctors are founding members of the charity Dig Deep for Bangladesh.
Dr Tucker said that on previous trips they had had limited success in getting supplies from individual companies: "We have more drugs for this trip than we could ever have gathered on our own. IHP will work to coordinate demands and thereby produce a better response."
International Health Partners produces packs containing 45 products to serve the primary care needs of 1000 people
At the launch at the House of Lords, Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham and financial secretary to the treasury, said: "Alongside donations, we also need to be developing differential pricing of medicines in poor country markets—selling at or near cost to developing countries facing acute health challenges—to encourage the long term development of sustainable and competitive markets."
But ActionAid's HIV/AIDS campaigner Simon Wright last week questioned the value of pharmaceutical company donations of unwanted medicines and warned that long term solutions involved rights to medicines not charitable donations: "This is not a solution. People in poor countries need the right to long term access to medicines rather than ad hoc donations.
"Pharmaceutical companies should not hide behind a smokescreen. They must allow and support developing countries to produce their own generic copies of patented medicines."(Kathryn Godfrey)