In-kind drug donations for Tanzania. Stakeholders' views--a questionnaire survey

Tanzania, a country with low access to essential drugs, receives substantial drug donations (DDs) as in-kind gifts. To support the ongoing health sector reform and to promote a good donation practice, stakeholders' and recipients' views on the appropriateness and acceptability of DDs are of particular interest. The objectives were to collect information on the situation of in-kind DDs in Tanzania, to assess the characteristics of the DD system in Tanzania and to collect stakeholders' and recipients' views on problematic areas in DD processes including all strategies of drug donation. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through validated postal questionnaires in Swahili and English, which were sent out in June 2001 countrywide to stakeholders of all sectors and levels of decision-making involved in healthcare in Tanzania. Of 1,383 mailed questionnaires, 496 were returned, of which 411 (30%) were eligible for analysis. All respondents perceived in-kind DDs as an important resource to assure drug availability in a context of poverty. Half of the respondents were recipients of in-kind DDs. On average, an estimated 27% of the recipients' drug supply was covered through DDs. The main problem for recipients of all sectors involved in healthcare was the insufficient quantity of DDs for sustainable treatment. Representatives of the public sector asked for more transparency in the DD processes. NGOs and religious facilities with better developed structures raised problems such as shipment fees, insufficient infrastructure and training. Recipients suggested that optimizing communication would have the greatest impact on improving the DD processes. In Tanzania, DDs were highly accepted by recipients and stakeholders. The primary concern of DD recipients was less the quality of drugs, although quality assurance remained an ongoing concern, than the discrepancy between the recipients' needs and the donors' supply. DDs often failed to cover priority needs. Suggestions of recipients for DD process optimization corresponded fully with the principles of the Tanzanian and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for DDs, with the call for better implementation of the guidelines among donors and recipients.