World WHO expects donations to come to another country with an expiration date of at least one year
• Most of the developed countries have huge stock of medical supplies to deal with emergencies which have only increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• If these supplies are not used in an emergency, they remain in stock until their use-up date and are then sent to landfills
Most developed countries reserve significant amounts of medical supplies to respond to emergencies.
For example, Australia has its own National Medical Stockpile, which stocks personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, along with other items. New Zealand has its own national reserve supply.
If these supplies are not used in an emergency, such as a pandemic, they usually remain in stock until their use-up date, then are sent to landfills.
There is certainly a better way, especially in some developing countries lacking medical supplies. Donating surplus stock to developing countries seems to be an obvious solution.
Our study looked at the potential impact of donating additional stock to developing countries – dated items to or closer to their label's use date. We found this to be a viable option, even better than donating fresh items.
What's in store?
In 2011, Australia's stockpile contained approximately 3,000 pallets of expired stock, most of which was personal protective equipment, including 98 million latex gloves.
While some stores have been used up during COVID, items are being restored. So the possibility of it not being used will also be eliminated. For example, we know that surgical masks in the stockpile are already running out.
Similar issues have been observed in other developed countries such as the United States, New Zealand and Canada before and during the current pandemic.
Why not donate surplus stock?
This exhaustion and waste is in stark contrast to the situation in some developing countries. Some are forced to reuse normally disposable items, such as surgical gloves, masks and syringes.
While the donation of surplus stock seems to be an obvious solution, the donation of dated medical supplies is generally discouraged.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends against it. It expects donations in another country to have an expiration date:
At least one year, or half the shelf life if the expiration date is less than one year.
The idea is to protect the recipients from bad or defective stock.
We Found a Workable Option
Our study specifically modeled the impact of donating stock in personal protective equipment and similar low-risk products. We did not look into donating dated vaccines or medicines, which come with high safety risks.
We found that donations that were close to or recent in their use-by date were the best option. This benefited the recipient country the most, as it was less likely to put local suppliers out of business.
The next best option was to donate fresh stock. At least the better option was to donate very dated stock, such as items older than a year.
How can old stock be better?
It's easy to assume that donating large quantities of fresh, spare stock that is still within the use-up date would be the best option. But we showed how it can distort the local market.
The flood of free, fresh products into the local market may force local suppliers to reduce the market value of their products, and potentially stop making or supplying these products.
This discourages any further attempts to develop local supply capacity, and makes the recipient country more dependent on donations.
It can be linked to corruption. If corrupt officials donate products and sell them on the black market, this could also force local suppliers out of business.
This could also drive up prices in black marketing, which puts additional strain on already stretched health care systems.
Whether or not such corruption is involved, a somewhat dated supply may enable a local supplier to remain in business and supply the nation's health care system.
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