A stock of U.S.-bought birth control, meant for sub-Saharan Africa, goes bad in Belgium

"There's a new twist in the saga of the U.S.-purchased contraceptives intended for sub-Saharan Africa and stuck in Belgium since the Trump administration scaled back foreign aid earlier this year. This week, questions were raised about whether the stockpile, originally valued at $9.7 million, might be bigger than previously thought. And an official on the ground said some of those products have gone bad."

""The medicines in the 20 relocated shipments, due to non-compliant storage, cannot be brought back into circulation," Jo Brouns, the Flemish minister of the environment, wrote in published responses to a lawmaker's question. "On the other hand, the medical devices in these shipments, such as syringes for injected contraceptives, are still eligible for reuse provided the other pharmaceutical requirements are met.""

"Along with the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) earlier this year, the U.S. specifically halted family planning programs for which it had long been the world's largest bilateral donor because it did not consider them lifesaving, despite vast evidence showing such services reduce maternal and newborn deaths. As a result, a shipment of contraceptives that had been earmarked for girls and women in a number of low-income countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mali, Tanzania and Zambia ended up stranded in Belgium. Several aid groups tried to buy and redistribute the supply of IUDs, implants and pills, but said the U.S. rejected their offers."

A U.S.-procured stockpile of contraceptives destined for sub-Saharan Africa has remained in Belgium since foreign aid was scaled back. Authorities confirmed four truckloads of unexpired birth control are stored in Geel while another 20 truckloads were stored improperly in Kallo and are unusable as contraceptives. Flemish officials said medicines from the misstored shipments cannot be returned to circulation, though some medical devices like syringes might still be reusable if pharmaceutical requirements are met. The supplies were originally intended for several low-income countries, and aid groups seeking to redistribute them reported U.S. refusal of their offers.

Read at www.npr.org