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 Dona-
tions developed by the World Health Organization.
Whereas after the earthquake in Armenia in 1988, the num-
ber of drugs sent far exceeded the needs of the individ-
uals injured by the earthquake;
Whereas during the war for independence in Eritrea in 1989,
many inappropriate donations of drugs were received de-
spite 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;
•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 enor-
mous 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 govern-
ment 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 Yugo-
slavia 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 inappro-
priate 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 man-
aging 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
•HCON 225 IH
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 Organiza-
tion to serve as a basis for national or international guide-
lines, to be reviewed, adapted, and implemented by govern-
ments and organizations dealing with drug donations and
to establish a common core of good donation practices.
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