DOCUMENTATION required for bringing medications, medical supplies, glasses, and medical equipment –DUE FIVE WEEKS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL IN NICARAGUA

(please click here for a printable PDF version)  

The documentation that a team leader must submit for MINSA is very specific. Please hold your information until it can all be e-mailed at the same time. If doctors or several people are gathering supplies and typing documentation, the information must be combined on one Excel spreadsheet with a calculated total value at the bottom. All medications and medical supplies must have an expiration date at least 6 months later than your arrival in Nicaragua. Every item must be individually priced on the spreadsheet. If you purchase a MAP packet, you will need to assign prices to each individual line item. Everything must be e-mailed to the team leader and the team leader must e-mail the documentation at least 5 weeks before the team arrives in Nicaragua. Here is a checklist of the required documents to be e-mailed to nicamissions@gmail.com:

All prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, medical supplies, medical equipment, and glasses must be combined on one Excel spreadsheet with the value of the total list given at the bottom. Please do not SCAN anything onto your Excel document. Everything must be typed. Documentation from MAP, Blessings International, etc. will not be accepted; it must be retyped on a consolidated spreadsheet. It is necessary to list the generic name and the brand name in two separate columns. It is necessary to list the concentration and /or % of active ingredient. If you are unsure of one, it can be researched on the internet. This is a requirement. Here is the format for your Excel sheet.

VITAMINS: At this time, MINSA/Managua will not allow vitamins to be dispensed without their personal inspection of the vitamins. The time that this would take will not allow our teams to bring vitamins. If this changes, we will let you know.
GLASSES must be divided on the spreadsheet by the strength of the glasses. Put a nominal donation fee--$100 for all. MINSA informed us that glasses are taxable at customs, and we want to avoid this.

Please check your expiration dates one last time before printing to make sure that everything listed has an expiration date at least 6 months later than your arrival in Nicaragua. Excel often switches the format of what you type when you change cells.
2. Excel sheet of meds –please e-mail the original Excel spreadsheet, as well as the copy on letterhead. This is needed as our El Ayudante staff translates the complete Excel sheet into Spanish for MINSA.

3 Two Letters of Donation (Spanish and English on letterhead and notarized)
MINSA requires a Letter of Donation in English and Spanish from the donor of the medications. This letter should be from your church, university, or ministry and personally signed by an official of the organization. To make this process easier for everyone, we have created form letters. Each link below has 2 letters—one in English and one in Spanish—scroll down. Please revise the letters—changing all fonts to black, deleting the header, and typing in the required information. The value cannot be inserted after the letters are signed and notarized. It must look uniform or MINSA will decline it. The letters should be cut and pasted onto letterhead, revised, printed, signed, notarized, scanned, and attached to an e-mail.

TEAMS WITH MEDICAL PERSONNEL (download: PDF / Word)

TEAMS ONLY BRINGING MEDICATIONS/MEDICAL SUPPLIES (download: PDF / Word)

TEAMS ONLY BRINGING GLASSES (download: PDF / Word)\

4. Team information typed on letterhead but notarization is not necessary

NAME OF CHURCH OR SPONSORING ORGANIZATION:
ARRIVAL DATE:
DEPARTURE DATE:
TEAM LEADER:
ARRIVAL FLIGHT NAME, NUMBER, AND TIME:
DEPARTURE FLIGHT NAME, NUMBER, AND TIME:
LIST OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS: (do not list specialty unless they will be performing duties that only their specialty will allow)

The following group will stay at El Ayudante while in Nicaragua.
TEAM ROSTER (names only):

5. Copies of all medical certifications with a valid expiration date. You must be currently certified to practice in the U.S. to practice in Nicaragua. Medical students are not authorized to practice medicine. They should NOT be listed as a medical professional. They can assist the MDs—like any other non-medical team member. These licenses need to be scanned either as a JPEG or TIFF file and need to be downsized to less than 1MB before e-mailing.

6. Résumé (CV) This should be a very simple format with minimum information. The more included, the more documentation required. Please use this format: (download: Excel)

7. Copies of college diplomas that back the information on the résumé. Must have a copy of each college diploma listed. If you have it framed or it is very large, a digital photograph works well. The picture must be large enough to prints to 8 ½ x 11 size.
After all your documentation is received in Nicaragua, our staff must translate the complete meds list and write a letter to MINSA-León requesting that your team receive approval to practice in the Department of León. These documents must be hand-delivered and then a return trip is required to pick-up the AVAL in Leon. The AVAL will then be hand-delivered to MINSA-Managua with your complete documentation and a letter written by our staff. There may be additional information requested at this time about a specific item. After your documentation is thoroughly reviewed and approved, another AVAL will be written. Again, this AVAL must be picked-up in Managua by El Ayudante staff. At the time of your arrival at the airport, an El Ayudante staff member will present your AVAL to customs at the airport. Your team will be escorted through customs.