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[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 225 Introduced in House (IH)]

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;
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 Organization's Guidelines for Drug Donations: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that the United States should be a 
signatory to the Guidelines for Drug Donations developed by the World 
Health Organization to serve as a basis for national or international 
guidelines, to be reviewed, adapted, and implemented by governments and 
organizations dealing with drug donations and to establish a common 
core of good donation practices.
                                 <all>
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