Drug information by public health and regulatory institutions: Results of an 8-country survey in Europe

7 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model HEAP-3672; No. of Pages8 Health Policy xxx (2016) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Health Policy journal homepage: Drug information by public health and regulatory institutions: Results of an 8-country survey in Europe Giulio Formosoa,∗ , Maria Font-Pous b , Wolf-Dieter Ludwigc , David Phizackerley d , Dick Bijl e , Juan Ervitif , Blanka Pospísilová ˇ g , Jean Louis Montastruc h a Health and Welfare Directorate, Emilia-Romagna, Bologna, Italy b Pharmaceutical department, ULSS 20 Verona, Italy c Head of hematology, oncology and cancer immunology, HELIOS Klinikum Berlin-Buch, Germany d Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB), London, UK e Geneesmiddelenbulletin, Utrecht, The Netherlands f Servicio Navarro de Salud, Sección de Información y Asesoría del Medicamento, Pamplona, Spain g State Institute for Drug Control, Praha, Czechia h Service de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, Centre Midi-Pyrénées de Pharmacovigilance, Pharmacoépidémiologie et d’Informations sur le Médicament, Faculté de Médecine, CHU de Toulouse, France a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 18 February 2016 Received in revised form 11 November 2016 Accepted 21 December 2016 Keywords: Evidence-based drug information Europe Public health institutions Medicines regulatory agencies Added therapeutic value a b s t r a c t Purpose: To evaluate the framework of drug information produced by public health and regulatory institutions in Europe. Materials and methods: We carried out a short survey asking editors of ISDB bulletins of the European region to indicate the main sources of drug information provided by public health and regulatory authorities in their countries, the specific kind of information produced and their opinions about strengths and weaknesses of such information. The availability of evaluations about the added therapeutic value of drugs and of tools facilitating the implementation of such information were particularly addressed and checked on the websites of those institutions. Results: Answers pertaining to eight countries were available. Regulatory information and safety alerts are generally available, but just UK and Germany stand out by showing quite an advanced framework of evidence-based, comparative drug information for health professionals, decision-makers and for the general public. National plans to implement evidence-based drug information seem lacking. Conclusion: More efforts are warranted to develop sharp formats to make evidence-based drug information easier to access, understand and putin context, showing the place in therapy ofmedicines and their added therapeutic value. Harmonizationof different sources, also at European level, would be important to favor their access and limit dispersion. Appropriate tools and specific plans are then necessary to favor implementation of information materials. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: , (G. Formoso). 1