The stop of sponsorships of medical congresses and conferences by pharmaceutical companies, decided by the Farmindustria council, is welcome. It's the comment of Massimo Cozza, national secretary Fp Cgil Medici, to one of the measures announced by the association of drug manufacturers against the cuts in the prices of medicines borne by companies, decided by the Italian Medicines Agency and confirmed by the Finance Law.
The stop should start from January 2007. Before it was announced, Cozza had already asked for the “exceeding of private sponsorships of conventions and congresses. The principle of mandatory training for doctors - he explains - has become a business for pharmaceutical and biomedical companies. These sponsor more than 2/3 of the events, effectively requiring public health personnel to 'go' to them to obtain training credits. Even when the organizer of the event is a scientific society, the sponsor often indicates the topics of the course and the speakers, directly invites the participants who could be influenced in the future choices of drugs or biomedical equipment”. Cozza therefore asked that “the Ministry of Health and the Regions, once the experimentation phase of the CME has expired and with the new National Training Plan which should be launched by 2006, put an end to this no longer acceptable situation. In the end – he underlines – the companies themselves did it, their decision is welcome”.
The stop should start from January 2007. Before it was announced, Cozza had already asked for the “exceeding of private sponsorships of conventions and congresses. The principle of mandatory training for doctors - he explains - has become a business for pharmaceutical and biomedical companies. These sponsor more than 2/3 of the events, effectively requiring public health personnel to 'go' to them to obtain training credits. Even when the organizer of the event is a scientific society, the sponsor often indicates the topics of the course and the speakers, directly invites the participants who could be influenced in the future choices of drugs or biomedical equipment”. Cozza therefore asked that “the Ministry of Health and the Regions, once the experimentation phase of the CME has expired and with the new National Training Plan which should be launched by 2006, put an end to this no longer acceptable situation. In the end – he underlines – the companies themselves did it, their decision is welcome”.
