IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 225

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should be a signatory

to the Guidelines for Drug Donations developed by the World Health

Organization.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 26, 1998

Mr. KUCINICH submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was

referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States

should be a signatory to the Guidelines for Drug Donations developed by the World Health Organization.

Whereas after the earthquake in Armenia in 1988, the number of drugs sent far exceeded the needs of the individuals injured by the earthquake;

Whereas during the war for independence in Eritrea in 1989,

many inappropriate donations of drugs were received despite careful wording of appeals;

Whereas in the Sudan in 1990, a large consignment of drugs

was sent to the war-devastated southern Sudan and those

drugs were incorrectly labeled in French and most were

inappropriate or dangerous;
2

•HCON 225 IH

Whereas in France in 1991, a number of unused drugs were

collected for donation and of those drugs only about 20

percent could be used for international aid programs;

Whereas in 1992, the Russian Federation received an enormous number of donated drugs which were inappropriate;

Whereas in September 1993 in Guinea Bissau, a number of

drugs were donated and the drug donations were very

difficult to manage and greatly interfered with government efforts to rationalize drug supply and drug use;

Whereas drug donations were made to Lithuania in 1998

which caused women to temporarily lose their eyesight;

Whereas of the drug donations made to the former Yugoslavia in 1994, 15 percent were completely unusable and

30 percent were not needed;

Whereas of the drug donations, including supplies from

World War II, made to the former Yugoslavia between

1992 and mid-1996, at least half were inappropriate and

completely unusable;

Whereas for each ton of inappropriate drugs donated, the

donor avoids destruction costs of approximately $2,000,

and is eligible to take tax deductions for these inappropriate donations;

Whereas the recipients of inappropriate drug donations are

then burdened with destroying these quantities at an

equivalent cost of $2,000 per ton, in addition to bearing

the added costs of health and environmental hazards, as

well as the costs of storing, handling, sorting, and managing the useless and unusable medicines; and

Whereas Australia, Croatia, Ethiopia, Italy, Lithuania, the

Netherlands, Norway, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, the United

Kingdom, and Zimbabwe have adopted the World Health
3

•HCON 225 IH

Organization’s Guidelines for Drug Donations: Now,

therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the

3 United States should be a signatory to the Guidelines for

4 Drug Donations developed by the World Health Organiza5 tion to serve as a basis for national or international guide6 lines, to be reviewed, adapted, and implemented by govern7 ments and organizations dealing with drug donations and

8 to establish a common core of good donation practices.

Æ