E-drug: Special issue of Health, Risk and Society (cont)
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Dear Pauline Norris.
From here I certainly would like to do that. I am adviser to Ministry of
Health in Vietnam, for rational and safe use of drugs. In this we have
many sociological / anthropological angles that need to be taken into
consideration. We have the problem of the costs associated with disease
and esp drugs taking a very large proportion of that, now actually
almost the driving force in healthcare economics in Vietnam. We have
ferocious drug advertising for drugs often highly unethical (MIMS
Vietnam is one example), and we have epidemics of infectious diseases
which can no longer be treated, as a direct result of the fact that
drugs, esp antibiotics primarily are seen as a commodity, which is sold
without prescription and used oprimally wrongly . . . at the end of this
line stands the patient with serious disease, who can not be treated,
stands the poor patient who became indebted for buying drugs that did
not help, there stands the patients with life-threatening adverse drug
reactions created by dangerous drug combinations, hurt by drugs banned
in other parts of the world and patients who actually often did not need
any drugs at all - but who are sold drugs which cause iatrogenic
disease, because drug sale is a dominating source of income for the
healthcare system !
This situation is by no means unique for Vietnam. The same situation can
be seen many places, and also to some extent in Europe. Your issue of
the journal sounds very, very interesting. I would like you to contact
professor Harry Minas in Melbourne, Center for Cultural Sciences in
Health, and Medical School Melbourne University. He has just published a
conference report book with one article from us here. That issue needs
to be dealt with further and I would like to work with an approach where
several disciplines are brought together. As I see this problem, this is
about Risk perception, risk assessment, and how to influence
health-seeking behaviour. This is about learning AND behaviour and this
is about economics AND medical/pharmaceutical sciences in good
collaboration. I am very happy to hear how you plan to make a separate
issue of the Journal and would be happy to contribute if you are
interested.
Yours truly
Sam Tornquist
Adviser, rational and safe use of drugs
Dr med., Ph.D., Msc pharm
Ministry of Health, Drug Administration
of Vietnam. 138 Giang Vo street, Hanoi.
Tel +84+4+8227219
E-mail adpc@netnam.org.vn
Hotmail: s_tornquist@hotmail.com
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