E-DRUG: Launch of the Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines Policies
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[30 years after the Rational Drug Use conference in Nairobi, a new global report is due on Essential Medicines Policies. See below for an impressive list of names.
E-drug will keep you up to date about the work of the Commission.
The commission can be followed on twitter via @EMPCommission
More info at http://www.bu.edu/lcemp
Thanks, Richard!
WB]
Dear all
Last month a new Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines Policies was established with the goals of: (1) reconfirming the ongoing relevance and the crucial need of comprehensive essential medicines policies in achieving Universal Health Coverage as part of the new Sustainable Health Development goals, and (2) formulating recommendations for global essential medicine policies for the next two decades. The work of the Commission will result in a report in The Lancet planned for November 2015, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1985 Nairobi Conference on the Rational Use of Drugs. The report will discuss - among other topics - the evolution of essential medicines policies from being primarily focused on regulation, supply and prescribing, to being more comprehensive, including elements relating to financing, pricing, consumer demand, private markets, adherence, and the role of transparency.
The first, brain-storming meeting of the Commission was held at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands in October 2014. The Commission comprises 19 commissioners and is co-chaired by Hans Hogerzeil (University of Groningen, The Netherlands), Veronika Wirtz (Boston University, USA) and Andy Gray (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). An Editorial in The Lancet of Saturday 8 November features the launch of the Commission (copied as "fair use" below; http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)62017-1/fulltext), and highlights just some of the elements that will be covered in the report.
More information on the Commission can be found at the Commission's website http://www.bu.edu/lcemp
Get Involved
The Commission intends to involve the global public health community at large in its process. At several stages of its work the Commission will therefore post general and specific questions on its website, to which responses and suggestions will be actively invited. The posting of such questions will be announced through relevant electronic networks, such as E-DRUG and IP-HEALTH. The Commission also plans to consult with invited groups of stakeholders. Details on the process of moderating these consultations and the ways of acknowledging the contributions will be further developed and be posted on the website.
Hans Hogerzeil
Veronika Wirtz
Andy Gray