May 13, 1996
Dear friends,
The 1996 World Health Assembly will be held May 20-25 this year. One of the
issues to be discussed is WHO's support for effective national drug policies and
the actions governments need to take in order to ensure that drugs contribute to
better health. WHO needs to provide continued support to national governments
but also to expand its activities in several key policy areas.
HAI has prepared a briefing paper for the World Health Assembly on four topics
related to pharmaceutical policy:
. Drug promotion
. Drug pricing
. Drug exports and imports
. Drug donations.
The briefing paper is available in English, Spanish, French and Russian. Please
specify which language would be useful to you. We can also send you an
accompanying flyer by mail with recent international examples of unethical and
misleading drug promotion (available in English only).
These topics were highlighted during the WHO Executive Board meeting in January
and are covered by a 1996 WHO Executive Board resolution. I can send copies of
the briefing paper by fax from tomorrow, May 14, onwards to anyone wishing to
use it in discussions with their national delegates to the World Health
Assembly, with other policy makers or press. If you would like a copy, please
send your address and fax number. I can also send a copy of the WHO Executive
Board resolution on the Revised Drug Strategy if this would be useful to you.
If you are in touch with members of the press covering the World Health Assembly
or would like to get in touch with the international HAI team at the Assembly,
you can reach us on May 17-25: leave a message for Ellen `t Hoen or Barbara
Mintzes; tel: (41 22) 7989161; fax (41 22) 7910638, or via compuserve (only
from May 17-25) at: 101572.3370@compuserve.com
With best regards,
Barbara Mintzes, HAI-Europe