Re: WHY did it have to be the Mormons?

Half of tsunami drugs to be destroyed
By Andrew Jack in London and Tim Johnston in Banda Aceh,,Indonesia
Published: December 27 2005 02:00 | Last updated: December 27 2005
02:00

Governments and charities are facing calls for tougher scrutiny of
emergency medical donations after a World Health Organisation-funded
study showed that half the drugs supplied to Indonesia following last
year's tsunami will have to be destroyed.

The International Committee of Pharmaciens sans Frontières (PSF), a
French charity, has found that of more than 4,000 tonnes of drugs
donated to Indonesia's Aceh province, 50 per cent had expired, had
unreadable labels or were not approved for local use.

Destroying the drugs is expected to cost ?8m.

The findings, which emerged as mourners around the world marked the
first anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed about 220,000
people, will stoke the debate about the management of well meaning but
often inappropriate donations after natural distasters.

They will also add to concern about the management of disaster relief
efforts after criticism of the slow pace of reconstruction in the worst
hit areas and fears that a big proportion of donated funds have gone on
administration and staff costs.

Most of the inappropriate drug donations - which cost money, create
black markets in dangerous medicines and damage already fragile
economies - came from small charities ignoring international guidelines
and individuals donating unused medicines from their own cabinets.

The PSF findings will form the basis for a WHO campaign next year
calling for the introduction of legislation and operating rules to
force donors to respect international guidelines for drug donations.

"This should trigger a crisis of conscience in the need for
international regulations," said Ghislaine Soulier, spokeswoman for
PSF. "The rules are good, but the problem is that they are not
respected. We say to people: don't offer medicines."

PSF has already been involved in managing the destruction of some
medicines. It estimates that around 600 tonnes will have been destroyed
by the end of this year.

Hans Hogerzeil from the World Health Organisation said: "It is just not
acceptable when people empty their medicine cabinets of drugs for
donations that could never be resold in their own countries. It creates
a managerial nightmare."

The PSF study suggests little has improved in the practice of donating
medicines over the past decade despite outcries after similar episodes
in the wake of the Armenian earthquake and the conflict in Bosnia.

It says 70 per cent of the drugs supplied were labelled in unreadable
foreign languages, most of which made them unusable. Some 60 per cent
were not on the list of authorised drugs for Indonesia, and a quarter
had expired or were about to.

Even drugs that could prove useful are presenting big challenges for
the local authorities because they were donated in excessive
quantities. Storage and management is difficult and many may have to be
destroyed in coming months.

Anthony Dunnett, head of the UK-based charity International Health
Partners, which helps co-ordinate medicine donations, end-orsed the
findings. "You need intermediaries working on behalf of donors and
recipients to identify appropriate quantities of quality medicines so
nothing is sent that is not agreed," he said.

Along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean yesterday, thousands came
together to remember the dead and honour the survivors.

A year on, despite the work of local residents and aid workers, as well
as billions of dollars in assistance, much of the region remains
devastated. But in speeches in mosques, temples and churches, leaders
were looking to the future as they led prayers for the victims.

Sri Lanka observed two minutes of silence to commemorate the 35,000
people killed by waves across the country. President Mahinda Rajapakse
said in Galle: "May we all have the strength and courage to face not
only any future natural disasters that beset us but also to overcome
the multiple threats and challenges our nation faces."

Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai prime minister, declared an official day of
mourning and attended memorial ceremonies in the tourist destinations
of Khao Lak and Phuket, which accounted for most of the 5,400 tsunami
victims in the country.

"We are united in commemoration of our neighbours, friends and families
whom we lost one year ago today,'' he said. "I wish those who passed
away will be happy in their next life and their souls will be in
heaven."

The Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, travelled to the
country's northernmost province of Aceh, where more than 165,000 people
died.

In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, the people and the
government had been paralysed by the scale of the disaster, Mr
Yudhoyono said, adding that although much still needed to be done,
there had been considerable achievements.

"In a catastrophe of this size, it is easy to see only ruins, but look
past the rubble and you will see progress," he said.

The Indonesian president was indeed surrounded by rubble and ruins,
their jagged edges softened by weeds and grass, but glinting in the
morning sun were the bright corrugated iron roofs of new houses, some
put up by aid organisations, others by former residents who are
rebuilding their lives and livelihoods.

There has been persistent criticism of the aid operation in Indonesia,
not least because more than 70,000 people are still living in tents a
year after the disaster, despite the massive amount of money pledged
for the aid effort. But although there has been frustration among those
still waiting to be rehoused, most people seem to accept the
president's promise, that "we will rebuild Aceh and Nias, and we will
build it back better".

In the heart of the provincial capital Banda Aceh, thousands attended
prayers at the Baiturrahman mos-que, which survived the tsunami and
became a symbol of Aceh's ability to endure.

Even as the worshippers bowed their heads in a minute of silence, in
the background workmen continued their hammering, putting back together
the lives that were torn apart a year ago.

The tsunami gave critical impetus to efforts to find a lasting peace to
the brutal 30-year separatist war in the province, efforts that bore
fruit in a peace treaty in August that exceeded the most optimistic
expectations. "There is a living monument to peace in the silence of
the guns throughout Aceh," Mr Yudhoyono said. "So, as they say in
Indonesia, out of darkness comes brightness."

.

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