European Association of Hospital Pharmacists in Second Life

European Association of Hospital Pharmacists -EAHP- has "Offices" in the virtual world of Second Life. Architecture and designer is our colleague "Daneel Ariantho".

You can see the machinima he produced for demonstrate the new possibilities of the brand new "Offices". The "avatar actors" are Mr "Daneel Ariantho" and Mrs "Seamless Karu" ;)




The place for the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists on Jokaydian Islands can be visited at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jokaydia%20II/24/110/25

The Presentation of the exhibition is here: http://eahpvirtualexpo.net78.net/

The Abstract is here: http://eahpvirtualexpo.net78.net/?p=11

Keep on the good work Mr "Daneel Ariantho"

Sources

http://eahpvirtualexpo.net78.net/?p=11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOaqb7Ii0Gc

Highlights from the 14th Congress of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists in Barcelona, Spain

The 14th Paneuropean Congress of European Association of Hospital Pharmacists, organised in Barcelona 25-27 March 2009, was completed with a great success.

Here you can find some photographic snapshots from the congress (you can click onto photos to see in big size).

IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) Pharmacy domain is created

IHE is an initiative by healthcare professionals and industry to improve the way computer systems in healthcare share information.

IHE promotes the coordinates use of established standards such as DICOM and HL7 to address specific clinical need in support of optimal patient care. Systems developed in accordance with IHE communicate with one another better, are easier to implement, and enable care providers to use information more effectively.

Simon Lettelier describes the details of the new domain in his post.

IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) Pharmacy domain is created.

This new domain (as others IHE domains) is global.

We are searching sponsors at a worldwide level.

So, feel free to contact the IHE Pharmacy secretary ( simon [.] letellier {@} phast [.] fr ).

Please feel free too to repost, or to forward as email, this information to any organization of interest.

Details below in the IHE Pharmacy - outreach letter :


Dear All,

The pharmacy ecosystem increasingly becomes complex and requires a good interoperability among the participating systems. As a result, IHE International recently created a new global IHE Pharmacy domain with the goal to address the interoperability needs of information sharing systems and workflow systems for community pharmacists and hospital pharmacists. A description of the most important Use Cases can be found in the Pharmacy White Paper (PDF), prepared by IHE Europe.

The initial sponsors of IHE Pharmacy (EAHP, NICTIZ, Phast, GMSIh) have an European scope. In order to reflect the global nature of IHE Pharmacy, we want to outreach our membership and sponsorship to other regions and stakeholders.

According to the IHE Governance document ( here), a domain sponsor provides financial and other resources to support the activities in its domain (e.g. hosting meetings, serving as secretariat).

Hence, if your organization is interested to sponsor or participate in the new IHE Pharmacy domain, please contact the IHE Pharmacy secretary Simon Letellier ( simon [.] letellier {@} phast [.] fr ), by preference before end March 2009. Please feel free to forward this email to any organization of interest.

The creation of a new IHE domain always is an exciting experience and we hope that you want to participate in this challenging effort to improve the interoperability in the pharmacy domain.

We are available to handle further questions and look forward to hear from you.

Kind regards

Geert Claeys
On behalf of IHE Pharmacy Domain Sponsors


Source

http://simonletellier.blogspot.com/2009/03/ihe-pharmacy-domain-is-born-onward.html

Concerns expressed over Spice in European countries

At the end of 2008, concern was expressed in some European countries in relation to ‘Spice’, a herbal mixture monitored since early last year by the EMCDDA’s early-warning system (EWS) on new psychoactive substances. Spice refers to a blend of plant or herbal ingredients, including Indian Warrior and Lion's Tail (1).

A number of Spice products can be bought on the Internet, as well as in head shops and smart shops in some Member States, and are sometimes sold as a mix of air-freshening herbs. A 2008 EMCDDA study into ‘legal highs’ sold via the web, found that Spice was frequently offered as a smoking blend (i.e. 37 % online shops investigated) (2). Different blends and flavours are marketed under a variety of names including: Spice silver, Spice gold, Spice diamond, Spice tropical synergy and Spice Yucatan fire.

Some users have reported that, when smoked, Spice products can have similar effects to those produced by cannabis. This may be due to the fact that a new psychoactive substance, JWH-018 (Naphthalen-1-yl-(1-pentylindol-3-yl) methanon) (3) — a synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist —has been identified in Germany and Austria in at least three Spice products (gold, silver and diamond). It is currently unclear whether JWH-018 is present in all Spice products or merely in some types or batches. It is also possible that other natural or synthetic psychoactive substances are being surreptitiously added to Spice products.

Responding to potential health concerns, Germany and Austria have taken legal action in recent weeks to ban or otherwise control Spice products. In Austria, a directive under the Medicines Act of 7 January 2009 declares that ‘smoking mixes containing JWH-018’ are Towards the better treatment of addiction.

Ongoing research can make a valuable prohibited from being imported or marketed in the country. And the Austrian authorities continue to review whether control is required under its Narcotic Drugs Law. In Germany, following rapid control under the national Pharmaceutical Law in 2008, an emergency regulation (in effect from 22 January), brought five cannabinoids found in Spice mixes under the Narcotic Drugs Law (one of which is JWH018).

Jennifer Hillebrand, Brendan Hughes and Roumen Sedefov

(1) Others include: Baybean, Blue Lotus, Dwarf Scullcap, Honey, Lousewort, Maconha Brava, Marsh mallow, Pink Lotus, Red Clover, Rose, Siberian Motherwort and Vanilla.
(2) Hillebrand, J., Olszewski, D., Sedefov, R. (in press) Substance Use and Misuse, Vol 45.
(3) Another chemical name is (1-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl) indole).

Source

http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_69417_EN_EMCDDA-Drugnet65.pdf

The White Paper for Hospital Pharmacy and Community Pharmacy is available for Public Comment

The White Paper for Hospital Pharmacy and Community Pharmacy is ready and is waiting for your comments. Geert Claeys, IHE Eur Pharmacy Task Force, send the following info:

The White Paper for Hospital Pharmacy and Community Pharmacy is available for Public Comment at ftp://ftp.ihe.net/International/Europe/Development/Pharmacy/White%20Paper/IHE+Eur-Pharmacy-WhitePaper-PublicComment-1.0.pdf.

The White Paper describes the main interoperability Use Cases, the related actors & sequence diagrams and gives an overview of relevant standards. The White Paper will be used as input for the development of the IHE Pharmacy Integration Profile.

The Public Comment period closes at 25 March 2009. Please use the attached template to submit your comments to secretariat@cocir.org

Kind regards

Geert Claeys

IHE Eur Pharmacy Task Force

* IHE Pharmacy White Paper - Comment Template.doc

Three legislative proposals from the European Commission for safe, innovative and accessible medicines

IP/08/1924

Brussels, 10th December 2008

Safe, innovative and accessible medicines: a renewed vision for the pharmaceutical sector

The EU has been losing ground in pharmaceutical innovation. European patients still suffer from inequalities in the availability of information about medicines, whilst counterfeits are on the rise. To address these challenges, the Commission has tabled a package, consisting of four key parts:

1. A communication to launch reflections on ways to improve market access and to develop initiatives to boost EU pharmaceutical research.

2. A proposal to tackle the growing issues of counterfeiting and illegal distribution of medicines,

3. Proposals to enable citizens to have access to high-quality information on prescription-only medicines and

4. Proposals to improve patient protection by strengthening the EU system for the safety monitoring ('pharmacovigilance') of medicines.

Commission Vice President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry said: “Everything we are suggesting today builds on the needs and interests of patients European citizens should benefit from safe, innovative and accessible medicines. They should be best informed about available medicines and treatments – since their health is at stake. We wish to restore the EU's traditional role as the pharmacy of the world. ”

The pharmaceutical sector makes an important contribution to European and global well-being through the availability of medicines, economic growth and sustainable employment. It has been and remains a strategic sector for Europe. It employs more than 634,000 people and accounts for more than 17% of the EU Research and Development (R&D) expenditure. Most importantly, innovation in human medicines has enabled patients to benefit from treatments considered unimaginable a few decades ago. Much has been achieved. However, major health, economic and scientific challenges lie ahead:

- Increasing globalisation of the sector brings new opportunities but also challenges. New markets are opening up; counterfeit medicines are on the rise;

- Shortcomings exist in the EU pharmaceutical market which affect patients' access to medicines and to relevant information, but also hampers the competitiveness of the industry;

Today’s Communication outlines a series of legislative proposals, political initiatives and international collaboration projects:

1. Legislative proposals:
- to tackle the growing issues of counterfeiting and illegal distribution of medicines (see Memo)
- to enable citizens to have access to high-quality information on prescription-only medicines (see Memo).
- to improve patient protection by strengthening the EU system for the safety monitoring ('pharmacovigilance') of medicines (see Memo)
These proposals will now be transmitted to the European Parliament and the Council.

2. A political communication:
- to discuss with Member States ways to improve market access by making pricing/reimbursement decisions more transparent;
- to develop initiatives to boost EU pharmaceutical research.
- to intensify cooperation with major partners (US, Japan, Canada) to improve medicines’ safety worldwide;
- to strengthen cooperation with emerging partners (Russia, India, China).


More information

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/pharmaceuticals/index_en.htm


Source

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/pharmaceuticals/pharmacos/pharmpack_en.htm