IFPMA/PhRMAG MEA Compliance Roundtable
Date
5 May 2014
Location
Conrad Dubai
Attend
This event has now passed. To browse our upcoming events click here.
IFPMA and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, Gulf (PhRMAG) jointly hosted this event to highlight the importance of ethical practices and integrity in the healthcare sector in ensuring patient safety.
The event was organized in conjunction with the 8th International Pharmaceutical Compliance and Best Practices Forum, 5-7 May with the aim to raise awareness of industry self-regulatory Codes, including the revised IFPMA Code of Practice and the regional industry MEA Code, as well as the need for a multi-stakeholder approach for delivery of best available healthcare to patients.
The meeting served as a valuable platform in engaging industry representatives and stakeholders from the wider MEA region. The meeting was attended by over 100 participants that included regulators, academics, representatives from healthcare professional associations and industry. Key speakers included Abdulrahman Al Sultan, Executive Director of Communication and Awareness, Food & Drug Authority, Saudi Arabia, Dr. Yacoub Haddad, Chair, PhRMAG, Heather Simmonds, Director, ABPI/PMCPA UK and Tamara Music, IFPMA. Each speaker gave their perspective on key components in ensuring ethical interactions and promotion of medicines and participated in a candid panel discussion regarding trends and challenges in the MEA region as well as sharing of global best practices. The event concluded that multi-stakeholder approach is essential in ensuring appropriate promotion of healthcare products and ethical business practices for the benefit of patients worldwide. To achieve this, ongoing awareness of values and training on codes for all parties involved is needed.
A presentation was also given on the IFPMA Code of Practice at the 8th International Pharmaceutical Compliance and Best Practices Forum. The impact of the IFPMA Code at the MEA level and globally was discussed.
Speakers
Yacoub Haddad is a certified Pediatrician with a career both in the clinical and the pharmaceuticals sectors. Dr Haddad is currently the Director of Government Affairs for the MEAP region at Abbvie Biopharmaceuticals, and chairs PhRMAG, the Pharmaceutical Trade Association in the GCC. Between 1997 and 2013 Dr Haddad held many positions at MSD in the Middle East with increasing responsibilities both in the medical department and in management. Between 1982 and 1996 he practiced Pediatrics both in public and private hospitals in many countries in the Middle East region. Dr Haddad’s expertise is in Healthcare policies and Industrial policies in the Middle East. He is an invited speaker at many regional and international conferences on Healthcare financing, Intellectual Property, Counterfeit, and Pricing.
Heather chairs the Code of Practice Panel, which considers complaints submitted under the Code in the first instance, and is responsible for the overall running of the organisation. Heather also works with IFPMA and EFPIA in relation to their codes of practice. Heather has a degree in pharmacology and joined the ABPI in 1984. Heather has been working full time on the Code of Practice since 1989 and has been Director of the Authority since 1997.
Tamara Music joined IFPMA in 2007 and is responsible for the organization’s work on Market Access policies, including health technology assessment (HTA) and international health systems. Tamara also leads IFPMA’s ethics and compliance initiatives which include the global implementation and management of the IFPMA Code of Practice and the Code Compliance Network (CCN). In her capacity, Tamara closely works with international institutions, governments and non-governmental organizations in building consensus and partnerships that support public health policies and benefit patients worldwide.
Tamara received her B.A. in Political Science from University of California, Berkeley, her Masters in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, and Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy from University of Lausanne, School of Business (HEC).