Health Action International-Europe (HAI), an EPHA member, has recently published three new position papers on key issues affecting European medicines’ policy.
"Running on empty: Medicines’ production and the absence of innovation" lays out HAI’s view that the pharmaceutical industry does not and will not produce medicines geared to public need - i.e. geared to priority conditions, at affordable prices and of genuine therapeutic advance. It concludes by urging policy-makers to look for, and invest in, alternative mechanisms for stimulating and rewarding innovation.
"Unhealthy influence: Patients’ groups and industry funding" argues that the intent of pharmaceutical companies in granting funds to patients’ organisations is always to influence those organisations to legitimise industry messages. Policy-makers should be more sceptical about this phenomenon and realise that consulting with patients’ groups alone does not amount to a full and democratic debate on health and medicines’ policy.
"Bending the rules: Medicines’ promotion and the distortion of information" deals with the issue of information for patients and consumers. Since advertising prescription-only medicines directly to consumers is illegal in the EU, pharmaceutical companies attempt to relax the rules on the provision of information addressed to patients. HAI points to the difficulty of setting a clear boundary between information and advertising and calls for more caution on the part of regulators.
The full texts of the position papers can be downloaded below.
For further information, please contact Mr Jeremy Smith.
