> It's already hard enough for people outside of the USA to access treatment for things like ADHD when they want to
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/02/health/adderall-shortage-pres...
> About 1 in every 10 people in the US who uses Adderall or similar combination drugs to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been affected by an ongoing shortage, a new analysis suggests.
> The US Food and Drug Administration announced that Adderall was in shortage in mid-October 2022, and the share of people with ADHD who filled their prescriptions for Adderall and related medications plunged in the following months.
> In an exclusive analysis for CNN, data from the health data platform Truveta shows that the prescription fill rate for amphetamine/dextroamphetamine medications fell from nearly 49% in October 2022 to a low of less than 41% in February 2023. Overall, the average monthly prescription fill rate was 11% lower in the first half of 2023 than it was in the first half of 2022, and it did not show steady signs of improvement through the end of 2023.
And yet, it's completely illegal for me to travel to Japan for even a day with my ADHD medication. I could be carrying my script, a letter from my doctor, and have literally only a single days supply, and I'd be risking a very serious prison sentence.
Outside of North America, even in places like Europe and Australia, ADHD is still close to non-recognised. Take Australia for example, if you assume 2-3% of the population has ADHD, and that every single one of them has to see a psychiatrist once a year to get their medication permit renewed so that their normal doctor can proscribe their medication (which is the legal requirement for ADHD in Australia), it would consume 2x the entire Australian psychiatrist workforce to deliver that many consultations... And that's if they were EXCLUSIVELY seeing ADHD patients...
> And yet, it's completely illegal for me to travel to Japan for even a day with my ADHD medication. I could be carrying my script, a letter from my doctor, and have literally only a single days supply, and I'd be risking a very serious prison sentence.
English language policy from Japan gov't: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/health-medical/pharmac...
Scary US embassy page: https://jp.usembassy.gov/services/importing-medication/
Still, that page provides an email address. Try it with your medicine, and see what happens.
More from a US-based non-profit: "Japan Focus: ADHD and Traveling with Medication" -> https://www.miusa.org/resource/tip-sheets/japanfocus/
They recommend to ask in advance. If denied, skip it for the trip (I know how people will react on HN to that suggestion!) or carry an allowed alternative.
Your last paragraph feels like it was lifted from a non-profit that advocates for ADHD disability rights. It is incredibly specific. Also, I'm really tired of repeating myself on HN: Saying "Europe" doesn't say much. Europe is huge. It is (at least) 44 countries and 27 belong to the EU. There are huge differences between each country. Do you really expect us to believe that in the Nordics that "ADHD is still close to non-recognised"? I find it hard to believe.