MoH hands reins to big pharma

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The MoH is keen to split funding responsibilities with the private sector.

An upcoming pharmacy law will recommend delegating national screening responsibilities to pharmaceutical firms, the undersecretary to the United Arab Emirates' Minister of Health has disclosed.

Speaking exclusively to Medical Times, Dr Ali Bin Shakar said the Ministry of Health (MoH) would rely heavily on pharmaceutical firms to fund and execute screening programmes.

"When we talk about screening, companies like sanofi aventis should play a part, whether it is doing the screening or registering the data," he said.

Shakur denied the arrangement would create a potential conflict of interest, and said the government was unable to independently manage a national screening system.

The MoH recently held talks with drug firms concerning the forthcoming pharmacy bill. Ayman Mokhtar, marketing manager for Gulf countries, sanofi aventis, said the government was keen to encourage private sector involvement.

"We feel that this new law will support us working more with health authorities," he said. "We have a very strong relationship with the authority and we are interested in a real long-term partnership in the country."

Bin Shakar confirmed that legislators were considering comments from the private sector before reforming existing pharmacy laws. The Ministry has faced criticism in the past over its lengthy and inconsistent drug registration process.

Dr Haifa Feres, technical assistant to the director of primary healthcare at the MoH defended the decision and insisted that certain rules would be in place to avoid ethical conflicts.

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