Tuesday June 28, 2016, Beijing: the 2016 Pharmaceutical Enterprises Ethical Business Practices China Forum jointly organized by 17 pharmaceutical industry associations was convened in Beijing with the agenda to further implement the Pharmaceutical Enterprise Ethical Business Practice (hereinafter referred to as the “Ethical Business Practice”), enhance industry self-discipline, and standardize communication between medical institutions and pharmaceutical enterprises. Vice Director of SME department of MIIT Xie Pengfei and Vice Chairman of CAEFI Li Ling attended the forum and delivered speeches.
The Ethical Business Practice originated from the APEC Codes of Business Ethics for the Biopharmaceutical Sector, known as the Mexico City Principles, which have been adopted by China’s pharmaceutical industry for four years now and endorsed by 17 industry Associations in China. “Further implementation of the Ethical Business Practice is the responsibility of all APEC economies including China and represents the consensus of China’s pharmaceutical industry as well”, said Pan Guangcheng, Executive Chairman of the China Pharmaceutical Industry Association (CPIA).“In the communication between medical professionals and the pharmaceutical industry, medical representatives play an important role and the standardization and formalization of their occupation are undoubtedly the key drivers for the implementation of the Ethical Business Practice”, said Yao Tongli, Vice Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Enterprises Promotion Association (CPEP). “Therefore, the CPIA, the China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CATCM), the CPEP and the R&D-based Pharmaceutical Association Committee under the China Association of Enterprise with Foreign Investment (RDPAC) have signed a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a joint working group for the professionalization and formal management of medical representatives.”
The 2015 edition of the Classification of Occupations in the People’s Republic of China (“Classification of Occupations”) has included the occupation of medical representatives, defining them as “professionals engaged in the transmission, communication and feedback of pharmaceutical information on behalf of pharmaceutical manufacturers.” This is a milestone in the occupational development of medical representatives in China and a new starting point for their professionalization and formalization. Secretary-General of CATCM Wang Guihua believes that specific work needs to be carried out in many respects to define the value of medical representatives, including the establishment of a nationwide occupational evaluation and management system; training, standardization and evaluation of medical representatives to ensure their professional knowledge and occupational competence, as well as regular communication with medical and health industry organizations to explore the patterns of conduct in the practical work of medical representatives and promote the sound development of medical institutions and the pharmaceutical industry. At the forum, four associations have signed the memorandum of cooperation to adopt the pro-medicine and patient-centered principles, establish the national occupational management system for medical representatives, build public consensus on the value of medical representatives, and promote the sound and orderly development of the pharmaceutical industry.
4 Associations sign MOU on Cooperation for Promotion and Development of a National Medical Representatives Occupation Management System
Managing Director of RDPAC Mike Dethick remarked that “the promotion of medical knowledge and improvement of public health cannot be achieved without the interactions of the pharmaceutical industry in sharing information. Ethical integrity of such interactions is not only the key to maintaining the confidence of various stakeholders for the business operations of the pharmaceutical industry but the bedrock for the sound operation and global market development of pharmaceutical enterprises. We are delighted to see that under the leadership of government, various stakeholders are proactively striving towards this goal.”
Furthermore, the representatives of pharmaceutical companies shared their experiences in the practice of the Ethical Business Practices.
