E-drug: HAI examines implications of DTCA in Europe and beyond
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Press Advisory
Dated: 30 August 2001
HAI Europe warns against possible impact of DTCA on the
European Union and other regions.
Recent proposals to revise the legal framework for medicines in the
EU raise concerns for public health and national health budgets,
argues HAI Europe in the August issue of HAI-Lights, released
today. The lead article �Is the EU edging towards DTCA? Examining
the consequences of industry's latest lobby� describes the strong
pressure the European Commission is under to relax its rules on
advertising prescription medicines directly to consumers in the
European Union and the amount of potential profit at stake. It
summarises how other regions such as the United States, New
Zealand, Australia and Canada are responding to industry pressure
on this type of advertising. The cover story also suggests that
moves to allow DTCA in Europe could have huge consequences for
consumers in the developing world.
As little research is available on the public health benefits of DTCA,
the question remains: who actually benefits from DTCA--consumers
or industry? The article concludes that the EU needs to enlarge its
debate to more fully assess the implications of DTCA for all
stakeholders. If it does not, it risks introducing advertising that
could seriously damage public health and national budgets. HAI
Europe calls on the European Commission and the pharmaceutical
industry to show that DTCA will benefit health and cause no harm.
To read the full article, go to:
http://www.haiweb.org/pubs/hailights/aug2001/index.html
For more information, contact:
Lisa Hayes
Communications Director
HAI Europe
Jacob van Lennepkade 334-T
1053 NJ Amsterdam
The Netherlands
tel: + 31 - 20 - 683 3684
fax: + 31 - 20 - 685 5002
e-mail: lisa@hai.antenna.nl
--
Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.
Information and archive http://satellife.healthnet.org/programs/edrug.html
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.