E-drug: Upcoming seminar on access in Europe
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear E-Drug Readers,
Those of you working on access issues, may be interested in the
following seminar which highlights the topic from a European
perspective.
Best wishes,
Lisa Hayes
for HAI Europe
e-mail: lisa@hai.antenna.nl
-------------------
HAI Europe and Medico International announce a joint seminar
Sustaining Access to Medicines in Europe: The coming crisis
2 November 2001
While the need to increase access to essential medicines in
developing countries has received a great deal of attention from
policy-makers and the media, HAI Europe and Medico International
believe more discussion needs to take place on the growing cost of
medicines in Europe and the consequences for national
governments' ability to sustain access to needed medicines for
patients.
The seminar aims to highlight some of the key elements involved in
sustaining access to needed medicines in Europe. It will examine
the issue from both the European Union and national perspective,
and will include a discussion of some of the possible tools already
available to countries to address the access problem.
Speakers representing the consumer movement, the public health
arena, independent drug bulletins, the generics industry and the
insurance sector will describe their concerns about access in the
region. Prime issues affecting access will be included in the day's
debate, including:
- the growing pressure member states face in trying to balance the
interests of the stakeholders involved in the debate
- the EU Commission's recent move towards allowing some types
of direct-to-consumer advertising and its implications for public
health and national health budgets
- the pharmaceutical industry�s insistence that regulators approve
medicines as quickly as possible despite some experts�
concerns that such "fast-tracking" could harm consumer health
- the effect that EU policy on access will have on nations in
Central and Eastern Europe and around the world
- as most new medicines are copycats rather than innovative, how
can rising medicines costs be justified by the industry?
To review the programme, go to:
http://www.haiweb.org/news/news.html
For more information or to register, contact:
Health Action International Europe
Jacob van Lennepkade 334-T
1053 NJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
tel: (+31-20) 683 3684
fax: (+31-20) 685 5002
e-mail: hai@hai.antenna.nl
http://www.haiweb.org
Medico International e.V.
Obermainanlage 7
60314 Frankfurt/Main, Germany
tel: (+49-69) 944 38 0
fax: (+49-69) 43 60 02
e-mail: info@medico.de
http://www.medico.de
Lisa Hayes
seminar co-organiser
for 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'.