Stronger pharma self-regulation good for patient care and safety – Business Daily
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With the variety of treatment options available to patients, healthcare providers need to be kept up to date with the scientific advancements of new medicines. Likewise, providing patients with information relating to medicines may encourage healthcare providers to explore various treatment options to best match patient needs.
It is important that the information provided by companies is scientifically accurate and fair. Interactions between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals should always be appropriate and support good patient care. It is therefore paramount that the local healthcare system ensures that it works and delivers the desired patient outcomes and builds a healthy national population.
In order to achieve this objective, the various medical disciplines in Kenya are organised into self-regulation bodies including the Kenya Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (KAPI) that work with the Ministry of Health, regulators including the Pharmacy and Poisons Board and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council to develop and follow ethical codes of practice.
These ethical codes of practice are developed in partnership with and to conform to more stringent international frameworks such as the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA). Control mechanisms stipulated in the code apply to all interacting parties including pharmaceutical companies, healthcare professionals, government officials, patient groups, and others. Applying codes of practice, laws, and regulations to all the parties involved provides safeguards to discourage wrongdoing.
Since one of the principal responsibilities of healthcare providers, facilities and systems is to ‘do no harm’, and to do everything to ensure that the benefits of an intervention outweigh its risks and deleterious effects, Kenya has arrived at appoint where all the healthcare stakeholders are prepared to establish a mechanism for holding each other accountable.
Approaching it as a value-based framework, the sector players have agreed to sign a consensus agreement to promote patient safety by practising in an ethical way.
The writer is the Chairperson of the Kenya Association of Pharmaceuticals Industry.
