E-drug: HAI DTCA statement
---------------------------------------------
Dear E-Drug Readers,
Health Action International Europe released a statement this week
emphasising that recently published research provides new evidence of the
harmful effects of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription
drugs. It again called on the EU Commission to reject any legislation that
weakens the current ban on DTCA.
HAI Europe and others have criticised the EU Commission�s proposed changes
to Article 88 of the current EU regulation on advertising which would allow
pharmaceutical companies to provide 'information' to people living with
AIDS, diabetes or asthma during a five-year trial period.
In addition to the release, HAI Europe and the European Public Health
Alliance have issued a joint statement on the proposed relaxation of the EU
ban on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines. The
statement is based on conclusions reached at the two organisations' meeting
"Providing Prescription Medicine Information to Consumers: Is there a role
for direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA)?" held in January.
The statement points out that people want objective information about
prescription medicine and that many are concerned that advertising, by its
very nature, cannot fulfil this need. It also emphasises that no one seems
to be taking responsibility for the Commission�s proposal. Although DG
Enterprise has repeatedly suggested that patient groups are the driving
force behind the proposed changes, in fact, at the HAI/EPHA symposium, its
representative was unable to name any group that has expressed support for
the changes in the regulation. The statement goes on to highlight the fact
that there is no evidence that the Commission's proposal on Article 88 will
benefit public health, while there is growing evidence that it endangers
health.
HAI and EPHA (plus many other organisations that have endorsed the
statement) have called on the EU Parliament, Council and Commission to
reject the proposal in its current form and to vigorously enforce the
present legislation. They have also called on the EU to develop a robust
consumer information and education strategy and to encourage the provision
of independent and comparative information about medicines for health
professionals and the public.
To read the full text of the press release and the HAI-EPHA joint statement,
go to http://www.haiweb.org/campaign/DTCA/index.html
Those interested in endorsing the statement should send an e-mail to
hai@hai.antenna.nl
With best wishes,
Margaret Ewen
Co-director (Projects), HAI-Europe
Jacob van Lennepkade 334-T
1053 NJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
e-mail: margaret@hai.antenna.nl
tel: ++31.(0)20.6833684
fax: ++31.(0)20.6855002
website: http://www.haiweb.org
--
To send a message to E-Drug, write to: e-drug@usa.healthnet.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe, write to: majordomo@usa.healthnet.org
in the body of the message type: subscribe e-drug OR unsubscribe e-drug
To contact a person, send a message to: owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org
Information and archives: http://www.healthnet.org/programs/edrug.html