Shoulder to Shoulder changed their process for how brigades bring medicines into Honduras as of April 2023.
This decision was not taken lightly, especially after several negative brigade experiences took place at customs over the course of a few months
The U.S. Embassy also released a notice to all Medical Brigades coming into Honduras that the Agency of Sanitary Regulation (ARSA) is seizing more medications and equipment from brigade groups and must abide by ARSA regulations to avoid this from happening.
Read the two documents below for more details.
The following are the documents and payments that need to be completes by brigade university groups and Shoulder to Shoulder to complete the ARSA pre-approval process. StS staff will work with you to set deadlines on the completion of these documents and for the reimbursement process to the organization.
NOTE: Any controlled substances will be flagged and can delay the process or cause increased questioning by ARSA in the airport. Please avoid bringing them in.
Note: that each brigades experience with ARSA has varied, please be prepared. We cannot guarantee that ARSA will not ask for more paperwork or payments at the airport, but we will prepare you to the best of our ability
Once all paperwork has been submitted by StS we will keep you updated on ARSA's response and send you the necessary paperwork to present at customs. Any paperwork submitted to StS later that the deadline cannot be guaranteed completion and may increase questioning by ARSA in the airport.