E-DRUG: Call for abstracts to conference on improving the use of medicines
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Dear E-Druggers,
Please find below a call for abstracts to an international conference on
improving the use of medicines, which I am sure will be of interest to many
of you.
*ISIUM CONFERENCE *
*People Improving the Use of Medicines: What We Know and Don’t Know *
*Bangkok, 26–28 January 2020 *
*CALL FOR ABSTRACTS*
We invite abstract submission for oral presentations and posters for the
First International Meeting of the International Society to Improve the Use
of Medicines. The meeting will be held in partnership with the Drug System
Monitoring and Development Centre (DMDC), Chulalongkorn University, and the
Thai RDU Subcommittee of the Thai Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).
The Conference will be held in Bangkok from Sunday January 26 to Tuesday
January 28, 2020, immediately prior to the Prince Mahidol Awards Conference
(PMAC) on *Accelerating Progress Towards Universal Health Care (UHC). *
*The themes of the meeting *
The title of the meeting is ‘*People Improving the Use of Medicines: What
we know and don’t know*’.
In recent years we have witnessed a deepening of the medicalisation of
life, while the gap has increased between those who have access to medical
services and those who lack health coverage.
The impact of poor use of medicines on society, health and well-being are
serious and lasting for individuals and their families, for communities,
for countries and for refugees caught between countries or communities.
Vested commercial interests are closely involved in every aspect of the
medicines supply chain and these interests have a considerable and
sometimes inappropriate influence on critical decisions such as defining
the criteria for diseases, developing research agendas, funding continuing
education for health professionals.
We believe there needs to be better decision-making regarding the use of
medicines. Good choices depend on context, on underlying determinants of
ill health and on independent information and reliable advice and a
'medicines-smart' community. We believe it is essential that we put
people’s needs at the centre of our efforts to define the place of
medicines in society, to provide equitable access to medicines and to
ensure they are used properly.
We have a big bold vision ... *“We want to build a better world where
everyone has access to the medicines they need, and where medicines – if
they are the best treatment option – are used wisely and safely.” *
We want to bring people together to share their experiences and showcase
their work. We want to explore key issues particularly from the community
perspective, such as: What is Health? What is Medicine? How aware are
communities and health professionals of the influence of vested interests,
and how can they best appraise and deal with them? How do we manage the
unequal knowledge between providers and consumers to ensure appropriate use
of medicines? Is a two-way process between the different kinds of knowledge
and experience embodied by health professionals and ‘lay’ people needed?
These are some of the questions which require objectivity, transparency and
broad dialogue at community level, in the facilities of the official health
system and in policy-making processes.
This meeting is the starting point to take up the new challenges in science
and in the empirical experiences of communities that struggle for access to
medicines as part of the right to health that belongs to every human being
on the planet. We want to use this meeting to expand our network and
promote tools and strategies suited to different country and community
contexts.
Intertwined with this overall theme are some specific issues that the
Organising Committee would like considered throughout the meeting and,
possibly addressed in each working session. These are:
· Empowering people to improve the use of medicines, taking into
account both community and provider, education and empowerment.
· Universal health coverage and use of medicines, including access,
insurance & related issues.
· Antimicrobial medicine use, including antimicrobial resistance,
stewardship & related issues.
· Government and stakeholder roles, health system infrastructure
and policies, and the role of community in holding governments to account.
· Innovation, new and interesting initiatives to improve the use of
medicines.
Further explanation of these issues can be found under the Conference
section of the ISIUM website.
*The purpose of the meeting *
To reinvigorate the movement for rational use of medicines by sharing new
knowledge and experiences on how to improve medicines use and agreeing a
plan for future ISIUM work.
*The objectives of the meeting *
1. To understand rational use of medicines, and how to promote it, in
terms of new knowledge and perspectives.
2. To share experiences in peoples’ education and empowerment in
improving the use of medicines.
3. To explore what governments and other stakeholders should and
could do to ensure the safe and effective use of medicines, and how they
may be held to account.
4. To define priority areas for future ISIUM work on improving the
use of medicines, with a focus on peoples’ empowerment.
*Abstract submission *
We welcome submission of abstracts for presentations relevant to the
overall theme and issues described above, preferably within topics listed
in the next section.
Priority will be given to presentations that offer critical or reflective
comments related to the themes outlined above, and that demonstrate a link
to ‘people at the centre of efforts to improve the use of medicines’ and
the ramifications for health systems and policies, for informal health
systems, for health professional development and practice, and for people
as individuals, in families, communities and societies.
Information about requirements for abstract submission are outlined on the
abstract submission form, which can be downloaded from the ISIUM website (
www.isium.org).
All abstracts are to be submitted by email to bangkok.2020@isium.org by
15th November 2019.
Abstracts submitted for presentation will be published exactly as received
and should be checked for spelling and grammar prior to submission. Do not
submit a version with ‘track changes’ active.
*If your abstract is accepted, you must confirm acceptance of the
presentation offer, register and pay the conference registration fee.*
*The conference committee will select five abstracts that will attract free
travel, accommodation and registration to the conference for the nominated
presenter. The selection of these abstracts will be based on their quality,
global or local relevance, and value as a learning focus.*
*Abstract topics *
The three-day program is designed to provide lively and productive
discussions and contributions from people engaged in improving the use of
medicines and associated fields. We invite you to submit abstracts related
to research, lived experience or new ideas under any of the topics listed.
People improving the use of medicines in their local context
*What do we know? What is empowerment? How can we raise community awareness
of the problem of inappropriate use of medicines? How can we encourage
people to become interested and involved? What are examples of successful
engagement and how were they organised? How can we make spaces for
participation and collaboration? This includes health workers. *
Communicating in the 2020s
*How can we make best use of multimedia, social media and other new
technologies to influence the use of medicines and promote health?
Collaborating with, and influencing journalists, media agencies, new
actors. Learn from the advertising industry to understand advertising and
promotion techniques so we can use those techniques to influence people
about medicine use and health. Analyse strategies of successful social
movements. *
Medicines in society
*Analyse how vested interests have influenced society (pharmaceutical
industry, commercial actors in the health and medicines sector). How can we
counter these influences? How can we encourage critical thinking? Analyse
the medicalisation of life, new trends, new perspectives and alternatives.
The role and limits of medicines in society. *
Methodology for generating knowledge
*Epidemiology: from big data to populations to individuals; critical and
community; disease & medicines. Pharmacovigilance, surveillance and
monitoring. People participation in research and as researchers: citizen
science ... what is feasible with limited resources? Quantitative &
qualitative research. New tools. Limits of methods … what do we really know
in context about people, places and effectiveness of medicines? *
Tools: Successes & innovations
*Tools that can be used to help the understanding, selection,
decision-making and wise use of medicines. Independent information,
therapeutic guidelines. Audit and feedback programs. What successful
experiences and programs can we learn from? Can they be implemented in
other situations and in other contexts? Useful and innovative apps. *
Policies & systems & regulation
*Government, national, local policies. What funding is provided to support
policy? How can people make government accountable to ensure that the use
of medicines in any country is in the best interest of patients, the public
and the state? *
*Presentation types *
We want to attract a variety of types of presentations as described below.
Oral presentations
Long oral: Presenters will have a total of 12 minutes (10 minutes for
presentation, 2 minutes for questions) with time at the end of the session
for discussion.
Rapid-fire: Presenters will have 6 minutes’ presentation time using up to 3
power point slides, e.g.1. beginning (background) 2. middle (body) 3. end
(summary) and allowing time to answer one question briefly at the
conclusion of the talk.
Storytelling: In many cultures, stories and narratives are informal, but
important, methods for conveying information. This format will accept
stories between 5 and 15 minutes long, from one or more contributors,
(video presentations will also be accepted) followed by 5 - 10 minutes of
open discussion with session participants, leading to a conclusion or
recommendation relevant to the conference theme.
Video presentations: Presentations of what communities and other
stakeholders including social movements and academic collaborations have
done to improve the use of medicines. They could include examples of songs,
street theatre, film, events, use of internet, etc., to improve the use of
medicines, including awareness raising. There should be some information on
the purpose, the development process, the engagement and response of the
target audience, and how the resource may be accessed in the submitted
abstract. Video presentations should be approximately 3 minutes, but no
longer than 5 minutes.
Workshop: Workshops may be up to 90 minutes. They should aim to explore and
make recommendations on knowledge, policy or action related to an issue
relevant to the conference themes OR provide participants with an
opportunity to develop a new skill relevant to improving the use of
medicines practice. Interactive formats are mandatory. Abstracts should
identify the aims/learning objectives of the workshop, background, process
and how the workshop findings will be utilized and disseminated for
capacity building.
Conversation starter: Is there a topic related to any of the conference
themes that you wish to debate with other delegates? Find your group by
participating in a ‘conversation starter’. These will be scheduled at
various times during session breaks at the conference. Speakers will have 2
minutes to present and can nominate a meeting place for further discussion.
Abstracts should state (1) the question to debate (2) background (3)
speaker’s position on the question (4) justification of the position. A
notice board will be provided for you to place your abstract and for people
to express interest to join the conversation.
Poster presentations
All presenters are asked to prepare a poster. You may submit an abstract
for poster-only presentation. For those whose abstracts are not accepted
for oral presentation, designated periods will be allocated in the program
when presenters will attend their posters to take questions and discuss
their work. Every effort will be made to bring poster content into the
conference discussions.
AO (841 x 1189 mm or 33.1 x 46.8 inches) sheet (which correlates to sixteen
A4 sheets) with the font for the text being a minimum of 20 point. All
posters should include all the authors’ names’ and affiliations and the
abstract.
*A prize for most popular poster among conference participants will be
awarded *
*Abstract requirements *
· All intended presentations require the submission of an abstract.
· Refer to the abstract submission form for requirements.
· All abstracts will be subject to peer review.
Whilst every effort will be made to allocate an abstract to the nominated
category (presentation type, issue, topic), the Scientific Committee
reserves the right to allocate the abstract to the category it feel is
appropriate.
Remember the abstract submission form and abstract requirements can be
found on the ISIUM website, www.isium.org , and all abstracts should be
submitted by email to bangkok.2020@isium.org by 15th November 2019 .
I look forward to seeing many of you there.
Best wishes
Kathleen Holloway
Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University, UK
Email: kaholloway54@gmail.com