First-Year Experiences with the Interagency Guidelines for Drug Donations: 1. Introduction

First-Year Experiences with the Interagency Guidelines for Drug Donations
(2000; 51 pages)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements
	Executive summary
	1. Introduction
		Short history of the concept of "good donation practice"
		Objective of the study
		Outline of the report
	2. Sources of information and study methodology
		General overview of the method
		Definition of respondents
		Questionnaires
		Distribution of questionnaires
		Inclusion criteria
		Sample size
		Data analysis
	3. Dissemination and uptake of the Guidelines
		The development stage: September 1994 - May 1996
		The launch: May 1996
		After May 1996: dissemination of the Guidelines
		Other publications about drug donations
		Conferences at which the Guidelines were discussed
		International organizations subscribing to the Guidelines
		Countries and national organizations that have adapted or adopted the Guidelines
		Other country studies on drug donations
	4. Basic characteristics of drug donations
		Magnitude of donations made in the past 12 months
		Cost basis of donation value
		Percentage of donations made for emergencies
		Percentage of donations based on specific requests
	5. Practical benefits as a result of the Guidelines
		General benefits
		Specific benefits for recipients
	6. Drug donations which were hampered, delayed or cancelled
	7. Experiences and opinions regarding the 12-month shelf-life requirement
		Impact of the Guidelines
		Guidelines by other organizations
		Agreement with the current provision
		Problems with the Guidelines
		Arguments for and against the 12-month shelf-life provision
		Recommendations
	8. Other suggestions to improve the Guidelines
		Recommendation
	9. How could donation practice be further improved?
		Discussing the Guidelines improves donation practice
		Give more practical advice on good donation practice
		Recommendations
	10. Summary of recommendations
	11. Postscript
	References

1. Introduction

The Interagency Guidelines for Drug Donations were issued in May 1996 by the WHO Action Programme on Essential Drugs (WHO/DAP) on behalf of eight international agencies active in humanitarian emergency relief. That same month WHO was requested by the World Health Assembly to review the experiences with the Guidelines after one year. In autumn 1997 WHO therefore initiated a global review of first-year experiences with the Guidelines. The results of that review are presented in this report.