Acknowledging the Work of Inter Care

The motion

That the Parliament acknowledges the work of Inter Care, which aims to recycle surplus medicines and donates aid to health units across Africa; believes that, every year in the UK,10,000 tonnes of unwanted medicines are sent to landfill and that up to £400 million of prescription drugs are discarded, including £20 million-worth in Scotland; understands that Inter Care redistributes life-saving medicines, which would otherwise be incinerated, to clinics that serve 8.5 million of the world’s poorest people; notes calls for a review of the current regulations on the disposal of unwanted medicines in order to enhance the provision of these medicines to areas such as sub-Saharan Africa; further notes calls for changes to World Health Organization guidelines to allow prescribed medicines that have been returned to a pharmacy or elsewhere to be donated to an approved charity for distribution abroad, subject to strict governance being applied, and thanks the 30 practices in Scotland that are participating in the Inter Care scheme, including the Antonine Medical Practice in Bonnybridge, the Balfron Health Centre and the Tillicoultry practice in Mid Scotland and Fife.

No recorded vote on this motion. Most motions are never debated, and many that are debated are agreed without a division. Vote records are published from 2011.

No MSP has added their name to this motion.

No contribution in the Official Report cites S4M-07149 by reference.