Drug bid for Third World
A WEAR Valley women’s group has asked the Government to export unused medication to the third world.The Inner Wheel Club of Crook used to send drugs to Malawi, but due to new Government legislation cannot afford to get the official licenses needed, nor can they comply with strict restrictions imposed last year.
Club vice-president Ann Turnbull said: “We really hope the Government will look at these restrictions again, as these drugs make a huge difference for the people in Malawi and Africa. I can understand why hazardous materials would be restricted, but the drugs we are getting are not dangerous or particularly strong, but they can have a positive affect on people’s health.”
Government legislation dictates that drugs have to be disposed of if they are 15 months past their shelf life, come in liquid form in bottles or need refrigeration. This results in 824 tonnes of medication being either incinerated or sent to landfill every year, costing the taxpayer £200m in wasted drugs and a further £10m for disposal.
Ann said: “It benefits everyone to send old drugs to Africa. “Companies like DHL and Malawi Air transport the drugs for free so the Government don’t have to spend anything on getting rid of them, while at the moment they are having to pay for everything.
“Even if drugs are out of date they don’t necessarily have an adverse affect. “All that happens is they can lose their potency, but for many people it is far better than nothing which they are currently getting.
“People are desperate for these drugs so I can’t understand why we are just throwing them away. “I hope MPs take it on board and do something about this situation.” Ann appealed to more than 2,000 members of the Inner Wheel Club at their annual conference in Blackpool, where the vast majority agreed to support her in her attempts to make Government re-address their policy on unused drugs.
There is currently only one charity in the country who can send unused drugs, but it is a policy the royal pharmaceutical company are not in favour of. A spokesman from the society said: “The professional standards and guidance for the sale and supply of medicines states that pharmacists must ensure that medicines returned to the pharmacy from a patient’s home, a care home or a similar institution are not supplied to another patient.
“The current policy is in place primarily due to patient safety concerns, and is in line with guidance issued by the World Health Organisation.
“The Society is currently considering its policy on the re-use of patient returned medicines, however until this has been given full consideration, pharmacists must not re-use patient returned medicines, whether for patients in the UK or abroad.”
