# \[e-drug\] National pharmaceutical policy for the United Kingdom?
**URL:** https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-national-pharmaceutical-policy-for-the-united-kingdom/9885
**Category:** e-drug
**Created:** [December 17, 2000, 11:57pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-national-pharmaceutical-policy-for-the-united-kingdom/9885 "2000-12-17T23:57:45Z")
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### Author:  [@e-drug2](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/e-drug2)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2000, 11:57pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-national-pharmaceutical-policy-for-the-united-kingdom/9885/1 "2000-12-17T23:57:45Z")
E-drug: National pharmaceutical policy for the United Kingdom?
---------------------------------------------
[Interesting that now that the Australian National Drug Policy is under
attack, the UK is actually thinking about establishing a National Drug
Policy. For the full text of the below article, take a look at
[http://bmj.com/cgi/collection/regulation](http://bmj.com/cgi/collection/regulation). HH]
BMJ 2000;321:1523-1526 (16 December)
An integrated national pharmaceutical policy for the United Kingdom?
Tom Walley, Alan Earl-Slater, Alan Haycox, Adrian Bagust
Prescribing Research Group
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GF, Department of Commerce
University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT
Correspondence to: T. Walley \
The UK government wishes to have "joined up" policies to integrate
areas such as health and social care. Although many of these policies
impinge on pharmaceuticals, there is no coherent, integrated, national
pharmaceutical policy. As a result, some policies affecting
pharmaceuticals seem to contradict or undermine others.
Pharmaceuticals
raise issues which are not evident in other areas of health provision:
\* Pharmaceuticals are regulated by law for safety, efficacy, and
quality
\* Drugs have become increasingly expensive, both individually and in
total, but the value derived from some of this expenditure is open to
question
\* Drugs are promoted actively by a powerful industry that is also a
major employer and exporter in the United Kingdom
\* Drugs are affected by policies in almost every area of health care.
We believe that there should be a single, clear policy on
pharmaceuticals that unifies the various strands of relevant existing
policies. In this article we try to describe what such a policy might
look like.
Summary points
\* Medicines are important in NHS treatment and they are expensive
\* The pharmaceutical industry is important for the NHS and for the UK
economy
\* The United Kingdom has no single, coherent, pharmaceutical policy
\* Recent difficulties have arisen in part from the lack of such a policy
\* The establishment of the NICE and other recent policies on quality
could provide the basis of a national pharmaceuticals policy
Conclusions
The pharmaceutical arena is now far too complex to be enveloped in
the current balkanised approach to policy. The basis for an integrated
national pharmaceutical policy now exists, and there is an ideal
opportunity for government to develop and implement it. The
alternative, muddling through, is no longer acceptable.
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