PRESCRIRE

RELEVANT HEALTH INFORMATION FOR EMPOWERED CITIZENS

Joint declaration of HAI Europe, ISBD, AIM,BEUC, Medicines in Europe Forum

3 October 2006

"Health information is a fundamental and necessary part of healthcare. However, the development of direct to consumer advertising, of disease awareness (or "disease mongering") campaigns, "compliance programs", and direct and indirect pharmaceutical industry support of patient's organizations have blurred the the boundarries between drug promotion and health information. If patients are to be able to make informed choices about their health, there needs to be a clear distinction between information and advertising that is disguised as information."