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Medications, Medical Supplies, and Medical Equipment Brought
for Ministry
(please click
here for a printable PDF version)
An inventory of all
medications, medical supplies, and medical equipment brought
into Nicaragua to be distributed to the people must be presented
to the Ministry of Health in Managua. (If your team is not
bringing these, please read the last paragraph.) This inventory
must include bandages, gauze, alcohol, etc. A list of the
medical supplies, medical equipment, and medications must be
sent to Bill Cox at
billcox@nicamissions.com three weeks prior to your trip.
This list should be either on Microsoft Word or Excel, so it can
be opened in Nicaragua. The list must include the name, count,
unit, expiration date, and approximate value. Medications must
have an expiration date at least 6 months from your arrival in
Nicaragua. This information along with copies of the medical
license (and specialty license, if applicable) of any physician,
dentist, or medical personnel on your team who will be seeing
patients, will be taken to the Ministry of Health in Managua.
These licenses need to be scanned either as a JPEG or TIFF file
and e-mailed to Bill Cox three weeks prior to your trip. Here is
an example:
For medical equipment, give a brief
description and how it is to be used. A representative from the
Ministry of Health will be at the airport upon your arrival to
make sure that your team gets through customs without any
problem.
The reason this list and the copies of
the medical licenses are needed three weeks in advance is
because of the requirements of the Ministry of Health in
Managua. Omar Alvarado, the executive director of El Ayudante in
Nicaragua, must obtain a letter from a delegate of the Ministry
of Health in Leon stating that the team is coming to provide
services in the Leon/Matagalpa area. Omar must also write a
letter to the Ministry of Health in Managua requesting their
assistance at the airport to help the team move through customs
without any problems or delay. The Ministry of Health schedules
someone to meet the team at the airport which is sometimes 9:00
p.m. on Saturday night. When this procedure is followed, the
team is escorted through customs.
After the team leaves, Omar is required
to submit a report to the Ministry of Health stating the number
of patients treated and the prescriptions that were distributed.
If medications are left, they must be donated to a medical
doctor or hospital. Omar must obtain a letter from the
benefactor stating that they received the prescriptions.
Your team members may be asked at the airport in Managua if they
have any prescription medications. This does not mean personal
prescription medications. If your team does not have medications
brought for ministry, then each team member should answer, “No.”
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