Pharma calls for European ‘patient information partnerships’
pharmafile | December 10, 2007 | News story | Medical Communications |
Pharmaceutical industry leaders are hoping that 2008 will see a breakthrough on one of the most contentious issues in European healthcare, the provision of information to patients.
A recent summit bringing together key stakeholders seems to have produced a consensus that a pan-European policy on health information was needed – but major disagreements are likely to surface during 2008.
The availability of huge amounts of health information on the internet, largely unregulated and varying in quality and relevance to European patients is the driving force behind the need for change.
But while there is agreement that the status quo is unsatisfactory, there is great disagreement and uncertainty about how new legislation would work.
The summit was co-hosted by the three European Parliament representatives in the EU High-Level Pharmaceutical Forum – Franoise Grossette, Dagmar Roth-Behrendt and Jorgo Chatzimarkakis. The meeting brought together European decision-makers from all EU institutions, doctors, pharmacists, patients, regulators and more than 100 stakeholders with a variety of different backgrounds.
The pharma industry and other groups have long agreed that rules on providing information to patients in Europe need to be updated, but fears by some groups that it would open the door to US-style direct to consumer advertising have blocked further moves.
The European Commission is due to publish its long-awaited conclusions on the issue before the end of 2007, and has also committed itself to making new legislative proposals in 2008.
Brian Ager, director general of European pharma body EFPIA, looked ahead with cautious optimism, saying: "After so many years of debate in different fora there now seems to be widespread agreement that communication with European patients and the general public on health issues and prescription medicines should be improved with the objective of having better informed patients."
The industry says as the developer of drugs, it is one of the best placed stakeholders to provide non-promotional information to patients in Europe. But opinions among other stakeholders vary greatly, with some wanting to limit the input of industry as much as possible, fearful that input from pharma will inevitably be promotional.
The Picker Institute, a research-based organisation is not vehemently anti-pharma, but is still doubtful of a key role for the industry.
Responding to the Commission's consultation earlier this year, it challenged the assumption that the industry has a major role to play in the provision of information to patients, and has called on the Commission to conduct further research into the needs of patients.
The Institute has highlighted an existing scheme in the UK as an example of best practice. The scheme gives accreditation to providers of patient information, and the Picker Institute says this system could be expanded for use across Europe.
A more vociferous critic of the pharma industry is Health Action International, which maintains that the Commission and the pharma industry want to force a move in the direction of US-style direct to consumer advertising.
