Note from Ian

Anne has now left for her second "tour of duty" in South Sudan, but her journey there commenced before she left Sydney!

A week before she left, an email came through from Dr R------ to advise that the malaria season has started early in Mapuordit, as the rains are earlier than last year. Young children are the most affected, and many were suffering convulsions when brought into the hospital, as the malaria had already progressed to the cerebral stage.

Existing drugs to control the convulsions were proving ineffective, so R------ asked Anne if she could obtain some phenobarbitone and bring it with her. You know, the scheduled drug, mildly addictive, the kind of stuff that is strictly controlled in most countries......no problem!

Frantic calls to NSW Health & Health Dept in Canberra established that a licence was needed to carry & export scheduled drugs – a permit for Anne was duly obtained with the help of a helpful Canberra official. More calls to a pharmacist friend for assistance, and calls made to a drug company, elicited, quite legally, a donation of a small amount of Pheno.

Yet more calls to a helpful official at the South African embassy in Canberra who provided the fax number of SA Customs at Jo’Burg airport, as Anne was routed through there, with an overnight stop, on her way to Sudan. She wanted to establish her chances of getting the Pheno through SA Customs. Same issue with Kenyan Customs, but no response from either, so - take the Pheno as hand luggage along with the permit and chance that they would let her transit it through each country.

Watch this space for news of the family drug mule.....