UK pharma industry unites to take the Code to customers
pharmafile | April 26, 2006 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Â
Companies from across the UK pharma industry have come together in an unprecedented campaign to promote awareness of its code of conduct – which it believes is a vital component to maintaining pharma's reputation among healthcare professionals.
More than 8,000 employees from fifty pharma companies participated in a co-ordinated campaign on 25 April – dubbed 'Code Day' – aiming to raise awareness among doctors and other health professionals about the industry's Code of Practice.
Recent years have seen the UK industry battered by persistent allegations of inappropriate behaviour and aggressive marketing techniques, with some sections of the medical profession and media calling for greater regulation of the industry.
The government has allowed the industry to retain self-regulation under the ABPI Code of Practice, but the system has now been tightened up considerably since the beginning of 2006. The UK regulator the MHRA now also operates as a parallel watchdog to ensure companies do not break regulations.
Despite this, recent market research found nearly half of all doctors are not aware that the ABPI Code even exists. Among those doctors who were aware of it, most believed it was either very or quite effective, but a significant proportion – more than one in three – did not believe it to be very effective.
These findings have spurred the industry leaders to organise Code Day, and they hope to impress on healthcare professionals, the public and media that pharma places great importance on high ethical standards among its employees.
The aim of the day is to ensure as many people as possible know about the code, its provisions and how to make a complaint. The ABPI is co-ordinating the initiative, which has also gained the support of all the major professionals stakeholder bodies: the MHRA, BMA, Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Nursing, NHS Alliance and Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
Nigel Brooksby, president of the ABPI and managing director of Sanofi-Aventis, said: "I will champion the new code of conduct to ensure that it raises the standard of healthcare in the UK even higher. This industry-wide initiative symbolises our commitment to promoting the code more widely for the benefit of all patients."
The day will see representatives from companies discussing with stakeholders all aspects of the promotion of medicines – including advertisements, the work of sales representatives, meetings and hospitality. Non-promotional activities such as pharma company work with patient groups, the provision of education and information to the public will also be promoted, with the regulations underpinning these activities highlighted.
Eddie Gray, general manager of GlaxoSmithKline UK Pharmaceuticals, said: "We welcome this opportunity for a positive dialogue on the benefits of the code and to send a clear message that we are fully committed to improving greater understanding of it, and the effective regulation it confers."
Professor Kent Woods, chief executive of the MHRA said he was pleased to support the initiative: "The self-regulatory code makes a major contribution to the effective regulation of medicines advertising, underpinned by the statutory role of the MHRA."
