Introduction: News of disasters often prompts individuals, organizations, and countries to seek ways to support affected areas. However, the notion that “any donation is a good donation” can lead to unintended consequences, particularly with inappropriate pharmaceutical donations. The practice of inappropriate donations can burden recipient countries with the need to manage, store, and dispose of unwanted or expired medicines, wasting valuable resources, which leads to adverse effects on the environment, the economy, health, and quality of life. This study aimed to develop a prioritized list of research questions (RQs) to investigate donated medicines, drawing on insights from international interdisciplinary experts. Methods: There were 46 people invited from over 10 countries and 15 disciplines to participate through an asynchronous Delphi study conducted in four rounds using an online questionnaire platform (Qualtrics) from May to September 2024. Round 1, participants suggested RQs; in Round 2, they ranked and commented on draft questions using a 9- point Likert Scale. Consensus was defined as a mean score of ≥ 7, with an interquartile range (IQR) ≤ 3, with no answer ≤ 3. Round 3 involved controlled feedback for participants to re-rank questions that did not achieve consensus on a 4-point Likert Scale; Round 4 sought final approval for the generated list. Results: Twenty-four experts participated, representing seven countries,14 areas of research expertise, and 10 types of methodology expertise. The panel reached consensus on 21 RQs from an initial list of 29, encompassing seven social science and humanities, six environmental, four health, three economic questions, and one interdisciplinary perspective. Conclusion: This study successfully identified key research priorities concerning donated medicines, emphasizing the need for a coordinated approach to mitigate harm and enhance the effectiveness of pharmaceutical donations. Future research should focus on addressing these questions to develop best practices that balance humanitarian assistance with responsible resource management, ultimately supporting disaster-affected communities more sustainably.
Arakawa et al. (Sun,) studied this question.