Assessment of Drugs’ Donation Practices in Sudan

Abstract

The quality requirements of drug donation are different from those of other donated items. Purpose: To describe and assess key aspects of pharmaceutical donations in Sudan, the kinds of benefits and drawbacks associated with drug donations, and the government controlling role in the donation process. Methods: Retrospective and prospective studies were conducted in the period from April 2007 to Mar 2008 in the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and some working NGOs’ data bases. Some quality aspects of donated drugs were explored. Six randomly selected nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were examined for the relevance and some aspects of quality of donated drugs such as whether the donated drugs were listed in the National Essential Drug List, or labeled in International Nonproprietary Names, their dosage forms, the language on the package and if the donated drugs were sampled or returned ones. Results: The study showed that most of the donated drugs were relevant to NEDL normative standards. The median times from the date of arrival to the date of expiration were more than 400 days. The time prior to expiration range between 44.8% and 47.5% were found less than one year in arrival. The top ten therapies were accounted for about 40 shipped items. The study was revealed that Sudan did not develop its own guidelines for drug donations and NGOs are making no effort to develop written donation policies. Conclusion: development of national guidelines for drug donations is essential to control the donated drugs in Sudan.