• Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (augmentin et al)

• Respiratory-active fluoroquinolones (eg moxifloxacin, gatifloxacin, levafloxacin)

• Cephalosporins (especially 2nd generation oral, eg. cefuroxime)

• Macrolides (esp azithromycin, but clarithromycin & roxithromycin very useful)

• Dihydropyridine Ca-channel blockers (eg felodipine, amlodipine, nifedipine CR) if they have a long expiry date

• Proton-pump inhibitors

• Steroid Inhalers

• Imiquimod (Aldara) cream

• Mouth care products (eg kenalog in orabase for mouth ulcers)

• Lactulose syrup

• Neomycin tablets

• Paediatric formulations of products (eg phenytoin, valproate)

• Any eye drops for glaucoma (eg latanoprost/bimatoprost et al, cosopt, etc)

• Sutures (as much as possible, any kind, expired or not)

• Intravenous infusion pumps

The principles of donating drugs to GSH are as follows

1.  We ordinarily stock mostly all drugs listed on the Swaziland Essential Drug List. So the main role that we hope drug donations can play is to provide some very useful alternative therapeutic options which would otherwise be unaffordable. It is also hoped that they may help to take a small amount of pressure off the hospital drug budget.

2.  The longer the expiry date on the product, the more likely we can use it - Please avoid sending expired items as they may compromise your entire donation if it gets caught up with customs.

3.  Drugs which are used for acute situations (eg antibiotics) are generally more useful than drugs for chronic conditions.

4.  If considering a drug used for a chronic condition, the quantity and expiry date must facilitate the drug being used for a few patients for at least a year (preferably more), and it must be something which has a meaningful advantage over our standard therapies.

5.  Please try to avoid sending medications for conditions which we are not likely to be a high priority here (e.g. ADHD, lipidaemias, BPH).

6.  Doctors will always have lots of medical samples which they would love to put to good use, however most samples are in too small a quantity and may not be useful at all (for example, a few sample packs of fluvastatin 80mg or roziglitazone).

7.  Sending donations by mail is costly (for the donor and the recipient) and often requires GSH to pay import duties to pick them up from Swazi customs. This can be quite expensive and also frustrating if they are not required or not appropriate. So if you are sending, please contact us before you buy the stamps to check if we can use them.

8.  We have recently run into difficulties with the Ministry of Health regarding donations. They have requested that all donations be cleared by the MoH’s Chief Pharmacist before you bring them. So if you are organized ahead of time, please send us your expected list complete with quantities, batch numbers and expiry dates so that we may get proper approval. If there is no time to obtain approval, good luck!

9.   Please contact us before you bring donations for advice on travelling with them

10.  But finally, we really appreciate good drug donations and the work and thought people put in to get them to us. Thank you for your generosity!