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March 23, 2005
Increase consumer choice with medical database
Commissioner Verheugen is on the right track
The recent proposals to create a European database open to public with information about safety and efficiency in pharmaceuticals is a good step towards increasing consumer choice and preparing for a new situation where the patient gets more involved in treating her own health
The European Commission is planning to provide the public with more information on drugs and medications through the establishment of a public database (Europharm). Through this effort of commissioner Günter Verheugen to fully implement the advice of the G10 report on the pharmaceutical industry patient choice may well increase.
Providing more information to the patients will be vital in a future of rapid changes and innovation. Better informed patient will have better control over their own health as medicine and the concept of health becomes more individualized, both due to patient demands, the individualization of diagnosis and treatments that blur the line between curing and preventative medicine.
The planned pilot public database, is also a step forward towards establishing the European e-Health Area, that is to achieve interoperability in 2006
Waldemar Ingdahl, director of the Eudoxa think tank, comments "it is a good thing that commissioner Verheugen provides the opportunity to the consumers to acquire more information about their medicines. We are living in an increasingly more complex informational society, where choices are an integral part of life. It is no good to withhold this information from the patients, not making her an active part of her own health condition".
Ingdahl explains "we already get a piece of this information through the advertisements for over-the-counter medicines from the pharmaceutical companies. Why should we not receive the information from patient groups, doctors and government agencies too?" Ingdahl concludes that "in order to include the technologically disadvantaged, the opportunity for direct to consumer information should also be considered."
The Eudoxa think tank is situated in Stockholm, Sweden. Their focus is on discussing the effects of emerging technologies and scientific progress on society, in order to promote consumer choice. Eudoxa has published books and reports in Swedish, Danish and English. They recently published a report on how emergent technologies are changing health care.
For further information, please contact Director Waldemar Ingdahl. Telephone +46 8 83 87 73, e-mail waldemar.ingdahl@eudoxa.se
Posted by Waldemar at March 23, 2005 08:12 AM