ARV drug recycling project in UK

Please note that changes to UK legislation mean the InterCare are no longer able to redistribute medicines. The contact details have therefore been removed from this article.

InterCare, a charity based in Leicester, has been providing unused dispensed medicines that would otherwise be destroyed to clinics in countries with limited access to medications mainly in Africa, for over 20 years.

Recently they have included ARV and HIV-related OI medications within their programmes including the ARVs nevirapine, lamiduvine, stavudine, efavirenz, indinavir and Combivir; plus fluconazole, aciclovir, valaciclovir, famiclovir and any antibiotics and analgesics. The project is not able to accept morphine-based medicines or dihydrocodeine.

The organization runs a strict quality assurance programme, based on recipient-driven requests. All medication is tracked and protected from commercial gain.

The project is particularly interested in working with doctors or pharmacists who work within HIV care at the moment and are responsible for patient returned medications after a treatment change.