E-DRUG: Announcement about WHO/NGO Roundtable project
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Dear E druggers:
As many of you know there is now an ongoing WHO/public interest NGO
Roundtable in pharmaceuticals which has held two meetings, an initial one
in Oct. 1998 and a second one in May 1999. At the second meeting drug
promotion was identified and agreed as one of the two areas for WHO/NGO
collaboration within the framework of the roundtable process.
Numerous studies and meetings (both WHO and non-WHO) have documented
problems with unethical drug promotion. However, information about
unethical drug promotion and activities to improve the situation is
scattered. Information and reports are often available only as "gray
literature" and hence cannot be accessed through standard data bases.
Sufficient information has been documented to indicate a significant
problem and a centralized data source is needed that is able to provide
both electronic and hard copy information, analyzed by levels of evidence.
Analysis is also needed of the documented or likely public health
implications of unethical promotion.
The objectives of the project are:
- document and critically evaluate evidence of inappropriate drug promotion
in developing and developed countries, including analysis of methodologies
used;
- document and critically evaluate the impact of inappropriate promotion on
health;
- identify topics that are not covered by present studies;
- formulate recommendations for required research;
- gather and provide information about tools in current use for teaching
health care providers and consumers to critically evaluate drug promotion;
- document and critically evaluate current tools to monitor drug promotion;
develop robust and simple new tools where appropriate;
- promote networking of groups and individuals concerned about promotion by
providing links through the website.
The first step in this project involves compiling a data base on promotion
that aims to be as comprehensive as possible. This means including all
available sources of material on promotion that have appeared since 1970:
journal articles, magazine stories, books, videos, transcripts of TV/radio
shows, unpublished studies, etc. Ultimately, this data base will be posted
on a web site of one of the WHO Collaborating Centres. We have decided to
include material back as far as 1970 to be able to look at time trends in
different areas of promotion and also to see where there are continuing
gaps in research about promotion.
There is an international advisory group that has been active in deciding
on the organizational structure of the database and in helping to decide on
a definition of promotion in order to decide what material to include. For
purposes of simplicity we have decided to use the WHO definition:
"all informational and persuasive activities by manufacturers, the effect
of which is to induce the prescription, supply, purchase and/or use of
medicinal drugs."
I have been contracted to prepare the data base. Through the University of
Toronto library system as well as other health care libraries in the area I
have access to nearly all of the medical journals and books that I will
probably need. However, there are local medical journals, unpublished
studies, stories in local magazines, etc. that I won't be able to get.
Therefore, I am asking people on this list to send me copies of material
that you have that deal with any aspect of promotion from any point of
view. If you are not sure whether or not I might have something that you
want to send please e mail me at joel.lexchin@utoronto.ca and give me the
title, etc. of the piece and I will let you know if I have it or can get it
at a local library. My mailing address is:
Joel Lexchin
121 Walmer Rd.
Toronto, Ontario
CANADA M5R 2X8
For now, I am asking for English language material only. I have contacted
groups about providing material in French, German, Japanese, Portugese,
Spanish and Russian. Once I hear back from them I will post the names and
addresses of these groups so that people who have material in one of these
languages can send the material to the appropriate group.
This is an exciting project and with help from the E Drug network it will
be even better.
Thanks,
Joel Lexchin
Joel Lexchin MD
121 Walmer Rd.
Toronto, Ontario
CANADA M5R 2X8
Phone: (416)-964-7186
Fax: (416)-923-9515
e mail: joel.lexchin@utoronto.ca
[Joel, very good initiative! Good luck with that enormous task! WB]
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