E-DRUG: ICIUM 2004 press release
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[With some delay, the ICIUM 2004 press release. Unfortunately, the 500+
presentations are still not available on the www.icium.org website. As a
participant, I got the CD-ROM, but can someone please make it available on
the Internet? There are so many good things to report but it is impossible
for an individual to summarize them. WB]
For Immediate Release: April 14, 2004
International Conference Calls for Improved Use of Medicines
Chiang Mai, Thailand � About 450 leading multi-disciplinary researchers,
national and international policy makers, patient advocates and clinicians
representing nearly 80 countries, gathered in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for the
Second International Conference on Improving Use of Medicines (ICIUM 2004).
Participants reported on the many advances made during the past years and,
at the same time, expressed concern over the continued, widespread improper
use of medicines. While agreeing that the unprecedented level of funding now
available to increase availability of medicines in non-industrialized
nations is essential, they cautioned that the increased access to quality
drugs is beneficial only if the medicines are used properly.
�Improper use of medicines will lead to resistance making therapy more
expensive in the future,� said Dr. Hans V. Hogerzeil, Interim Director of
the World Health Organization�s Department of Essential Drugs and Medicines
Policy (WHO/EDM). �To save lives, increased availability of medicines and
treatment must be accompanied by responsible use.�
Overuse, underuse, and misuse of medicines along with poor patient adherence
to therapy are contributing to the emergence and rapid spread of disease
strains that are resistant to currently available treatment. Resistance to
conventional drugs has been observed in patients with respiratory
infections, HIV/AIDS, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, and malaria along
with other ailments. Once the ability to use important drugs is lost due to
resistance, their effectiveness is lost to every patient, whether in Africa,
Asia or anywhere else in the world.
Members of the international community who assembled for ICIUM 2004 reviewed
impressive research generated since the first International Conference on
Improving Use of Medicines in 1997. The previous conference was a milestone
which resulted in unprecedented consensus on interventions to improve
medicine use and a definitive global research agenda to increase
understanding of issues that impact the appropriate use of medicines.
Since the 1997 meeting, �we now face a much more complex and challenging
international health environment in which there is a potential for promoting
improved use of medicines,� said Dr. Jonathan Quick, President-elect and CEO
designate of Management Sciences for Health. A key participant in 1997, Dr.
Quick, former head of WHO/EDM, stated that �measurable progress is possible.
To achieve sustained long term impact, we must learn to use the levers of
health insurance, public information and public opinion, and political
leadership. We must also build strong fundamentals of technical, financial,
and human resources, and focus on clear public health priorities.�
As one of the exciting new developments, emerging health insurance systems
promise to be effective tools to improve access to and use of medicines.
�The future of the concept of essential medicines lies with health
insurance� said Dr. Hogerzeil. �Insurance systems can emerge in
resource-deprived settings. Increasingly, reimbursement schemes will
leverage programs of rational use, medicine pricing and pharmaceutical
policies in general." He went on to suggest that the WHO could help
countries by establishing practical guidelines for creating or strengthening
health insurance systems.
In the struggle to combat increasing antimicrobial resistance, according to
Dr. Hogerzeil, one of the most exciting things is the potential for 3-day
therapy of childhood pneumonia, the major killer of under 5-year olds in
developing countries. Short-course antibiotic therapy for non-severe
pneumonia seems to be effective, lower treatment cost, increase adherence,
cause less adverse effects, and decrease the emergence of resistant
bacteria. If the evidence is really conclusive, this is not only important
for Africa, but for Europe and the rest of the world as well.
Looking to the future, Eva Ombaka, who heads the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical
Network in Kenya, strongly encouraged �harnessing the people�s power� to
improve medicine use in the community. In the keynote address she said,
�Community leaders, faith leaders, and the youth are untapped resources that
should be used.�
ICIUM 2004 is part of a global effort to improve the use of medicines,
particularly in non-industrialized countries. The ICIUM 2004 Conference was
collaboratively organized by the Boston University School of Public Health
Center for International Health, Harvard Medical School Department of
Ambulatory Care & Prevention, International Network for Rational Use of
Drugs, Management Sciences for Health through its Rational Pharmaceutical
Management Plus (RPM Plus) and Strategies for Enhancing Access to Medicines
(SEAM) Programs, the Thai Network for Rational Use of Drugs, and the World
Health Organization Department of Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy.
Major support for the conference was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, Canadian International Development Agency, Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency, U.S. Agency for International Development,
World Health Organization (WHO)�Geneva, WHO Country Office for Thailand, and
WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia (SEARO). In addition, more than 20
other organizations contributed to the success of the conference by
sponsoring attendance of multiple participants.
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For more information on ICIUM 2004 please visit www.icium.org or contact
Mandi Mayer of Management Sciences for Health, Washington, DC at +1
703-524-6575 (mmayer@msh.org) or John Chalker, Yealmpton, Devon, UK at +
44-1752-881-501 (jchalker@msh.org), Dennis Ross-Degnan of Harvard Medical
School, Boston at +1 617-509-9920 (drossdeg@hms.harvard.edu), or Chitr
Sitthi-Amorn of Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok at +662-2188141
(schitr@chula.ac.th).
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