# E-DRUG: Controlling advertising **URL:** \ **Category:** e-drug\ **Created:** [September 2, 1999, 3:57pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-controlling-advertising/5924 "1999-09-02T15:57:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Candy\_Day](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@Candy\_Day](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/Candy_Day)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 3:57pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-controlling-advertising/5924/1 "1999-09-02T15:57:45Z")
E-DRUG: Controlling advertising ------------------------------- Dear E-druggers Since the advent of the democratic government in 1994, South Africa has undertaken a fundamental review of its health system, including all relevant legislation. Accordingly, the Medicines Act of 1965 is in the process of being reworked. Although the new Act provides for a legal means to control the promotion of drugs, the details still have to be provided in the form of Regulations. HealthLink is a project of the Health Systems Trust, a leading non-governmental organisation in this field in South Africa. The core aim of the project is to meet the communication and information needs of health workers and planners. One avenue that is used is the Internet. In developing our services in this area, we have become aware of the lack of effective mechanisms in current legislation. We therefore invite comment on the following issues, in order to inform our submissions to the legal drafting process. We would welcome comment on the questions raised from all interested E-Druggers, and undertake to post a summary of input to the list once it is received and collated. Question 1 Should drug promotion be the subject of legal restrictions or be left to industry self-regulatory mechanisms? Question 2 South Africa's Bill of Rights makes a vigorous stand on the autonomy of individuals. Accordingly, should South Africa follow the US model and provide for direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription-only medicine, or only educational programmes that inform consumers about the availability of treatment without mentioning specific prescription drugs? Question 3 The Internet provides some interesting challenges, especially as it crosses national borders with impunity. While some progress has been made towards "harmonisation" of drug regulatory systems, there are still differences between countries. In the light of this, can national legal mechanisms still work effectively, or should this area be governed by international agreements? Question 4 Should national or international legal mechanisms make specific mention of the Internet and other electronic media, or should they be included in broad definitions of "promotional material"? Question 5 What sanctions could an international legal mechanism apply? Question 6 Which international structure could police such agreements? Question 7 Most current legal and self-regulatory codes operate on the basis of three main ingredients - the reason for the advertisement (promotion of sale), the origin of the advertisement (the manufacturer), and the contents of the advertisement (match with the evidence submitted for registration of the product). However, it is clear that the reason for a particular web site might not be obvious or its origin made explicit. In terms of current guidelines therefore, would the following be acceptable: \* a web site which provides the package inserts (registered   product information) for a large number of prescription only products   from different manufacturers \* a web site which provides the national   Essential Drugs List (by generic name), together with the relevant   standardised treatment guidelines (algorithms) \* a web site which provides the material included in the national   Medicines Formulary (including prescription only medicines) \* an electronic journal aimed at health professionals that contains   drug company advertisements for prescription only medicines that is   available unrestricted on the web? If they are acceptable, what loopholes might this reveal in the current approach? -- Candy Day (HealthLink, Health Systems Trust) candy@healthlink.org.za Andy Gray (Drug Management, ISDS, Health Systems Trust) andy@healthlink.org.za \\\ Candy Day, candy@healthlink.org.za /// HealthLink, [http://www.healthlink.org.za](http://www.healthlink.org.za) a program of \\\ Health Systems Trust [http://www.hst.org.za](http://www.hst.org.za) -- Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'. Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'. For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.