Russian attack on Ukraine

The desire to help Ukrainians is strong in this time of need. For private individuals, the most effective way to help is by donating money to aid organisations. These organisations have experience in crisis situations and functional supply chains. They know best what kind of help is needed in the area and are most capable of delivering the aid to the right destinations.

Further information:

Ministry of the Interior: Helping Ukrainians

It is important to get pharmaceutical aid delivered to a war zone that is as safe and of the same quality as for any user of a medicine. In humanitarian crisis situations deliveries of pharmaceutical aid are coordinated by established international aid organisations with the necessary pharmaceutical export licences and which have the best access to the right channels. In this way, the distribution chain of the medicines that are delivered can be traced, the quality and safety of the medicines is not endangered during delivery, the medicines do not fall into the wrong hands during delivery, and they are delivered to health care officials in the target country.

Material assistance to Ukraine through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism is coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior.

To make sure that those needing help in a crisis situation get the right kind of safe pharmacotherapy, similar requirements apply to export of medicines to war zones as in other types of pharmaceutical export:

• The export of medicines from Finland to outside the EU/EEA countries requires a wholesale permit granted by Fimea, which includes provisions for the export of medicines.
• The pharmaceutical wholesaler must make sure that the recipient of the medicines outside the EU/EEA area is a lawful recipient with the right to procure medicines from a wholesaler.
• If the medicines to be exported are classified as psychoactive substances, the wholesale licence must include psychoactive drugs, and a separate export licence is needed for the consignment.

Further information:

Medicines Act (Finlex, in Finnish)

Narcotics Act (Finlex, in Finnish)

Private individuals may, in principle, carry only the medicines they need for themselves when travelling to another country. In the export of personal medicines, it is good to keep in mind the restrictions imposed by the destination country and transit countries and, for example, a Schengen certificate for medicines containing psychoactive substances.

If there are issues during border controls or at any other point, and authorities need to trace the origin of the medicines and check the legality of their transportation, it may unnecessarily delay other traffic in the border areas and make it more difficult to deliver assistance from aid organisations, for example.

Expired or unnecessary medicines should not be delivered as donations or aid. To use medicines safely, the instructions on the packaging must be followed. The text on the packaging and instructions for use in packages of medicine procured in Finland are in Finnish and Swedish only; information on the safe use of such medicines is not communicated to those who speak other languages and use the Cyrillic alphabet. Without instructions and information on the content or strength of the pharmaceutical product, using the medicine can be dangerous in the worst of cases.

The transport of medicines by private persons or organisations who lack the expertise, or temperature-controlled equipment, for example, entails inherent risks. In the worst of cases, medicines, such as insulin, which is crucial for the survival of its users, can lose their effectiveness when exposed to excessively high temperatures.

Aid organisations and government actors can use monetary donations to deliver medicines needed and requested by the recipient of the aid. Delivering unsolicited and unnecessary medicines hampers the distribution of necessary aid.

Medicines that are inappropriate for a specific use, or are otherwise unusable, are hazardous waste. Hazardous waste is harmful for the environment, and its disposal is expensive. Please bring all expired or unnecessary medicines to a pharmacy for disposal.

Further information:

WHO guidelines for medicine donations

How should medicines be disposed of?

Pharmacies may have problems with the availability of iodine tablets because of the sharp increase in demand, but the problem is temporary, and pharmacies are constantly resupplied. Iodine tablets should not be taken without official instructions. There is no need to stockpile iodine tablets.

Further information:

Check the instructions of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority