Education Events Reports
Why pharmaceutical companies provide medical education events?
Pharmaceutical companies have an obligation to ensure all healthcare professionals have access to the latest information about prescription medicines.
One of the ways this information is conveyed is though educational events provided for doctors, pharmacists and nurses by pharmaceutical companies.
These events can range from small meetings in surgeries to evening briefings over dinner, to a weekend conference for hundreds of healthcare professionals.
No one knows medicines as well as those who make them. That is why healthcare decisions affecting Australian patients must be informed by ethical dialogue between those who make pharmaceuticals and those who prescribe, dispense or administer them.
Why Medicines Australia is publishing this information?
Medicines Australia has been required by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to publish the detail of educational events provided or sponsored by Medicines Australia member companies. This condition is now included in the Code of Conduct
The transparent reporting of industry-wide data represents a global precedent for the pharmaceutical industry, and one which Medicines Australia fully supports.
By publishing this information, Medicines Australia is enabling the public to better understand the nature of medical education events provided or sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, and the important role they play in the health system.
With the implementation of Edition 16 of the Code, the reporting period for educational events are April to September and October to March each year. Medicines Australia is publishing the six month report for 1 April to 30 September 2011. Medicines Australia will publish similar reports every six months. Reports for the preceding six months are also available
Non-members of Medicines Australia were not required to publish the details of their educational events.
Medicines Australia Code of Conduct
All educational events sponsored or provided by Medicines Australia member companies are subject to the Medicines Australia Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct is authorised by the ACCC and is updated regularly. It sets the standard for the ethical marketing and promotion of medicines.
Under the Code, the provision of gifts to doctors is banned. Entertainment is banned. The provision of lavish hospitality is banned.
Breaching the Code of Conduct
Where a breach of the Code of Conduct is suspected, a complaint can be lodged with the Code of Conduct Committee, an independent body chaired by a trade practices lawyer.
Companies found to have breached the Code of Conduct can be fined up to $300,000.
Medicines Australia invites scrutiny of these educational events. We encourage people to lodge a complaint with the independent Code of Conduct Committee where they think company behaviour may be inappropriate.
Key industry facts
- According to ABS estimates, in 2008-09, Australian medicines manufacturing contributed close to $8.7 billion to the economy. 1
- In 2009-10, the Australian medicines industry invested over $1 billion in research and development. 2
- In 2010-11, the Australian medicines industry contributed $3.8 billion in export earnings to the Australian economy and led the high-technology exports sector for the third year running. 3
- The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme paid $8.8 billion in benefits for listed medicines in 2010-11. 4
- 77,800 medical practitioners, 229,100 nurses, 77,800 medical practitioners, 229,100 nurses 6, and 19,200 pharmacists were employed in Australia in 2008. 5
Company Reports Summary
| Company Reports Summary 1 April 2011 – 30 September 2011 | |
|---|---|
| Number of reports | 37 |
| Number of events | 18,174 |
| Number of attendees | 423,516 |
| Education hours | 33,987 |
| Hospitality cost | $18,179,232.93 |
| Average cost of hospitality per head | $42.92 |
| Total cost of events | $40,741,566.34 |
| Average cost of event per head | $96.20 |
Previous Educational Event Reports are also available
References for key industry facts
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, Catalogue 8159, Experimental Estimates for the Manufacturing Industry, 2008-09, December 2010. ↩
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, Catalogue 8104, Research and Experimental Development by Socio-Economic Objectives, Businesses, Australia, 2009-10. ↩
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, Catalogue 5368.0, International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia 2010-11, September 2011. ↩
- Department of Health and Ageing 2011, Expenditure and prescription in twelve months to 30 June 2011. ↩
- Nurses include midwifery and nursing professionals (n=199,500) and enrolled mothercraft nurses (n=29,600) and AIHW 2010, Health Workforce, Australia’s Health 2010, Pg448, Table 8.21. ↩
Page updated: December 2011