EU MONITOR - Celebrate Statement Implementation Month
The EAHP EU Monitor is a regular round up of news relevant to hospital pharmacy in Europe.
You can subscribe to receive the EAHP EU Monitor by email HERE.
May stands for Statement Implementation month
In May, the European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy are celebrating their sixth anniversary. Adopted by the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) and supported by doctors, nurses, patient organisations and others, the European Statements express commonly agreed objectives which every European health system should aim for in the delivery of hospital pharmacy services.
The implementation of the European Statements is being carried out within EAHP’s 35 member countries with the support of the Statement Implementation ambassadors. They act as link between the European and the national level. To facilitate the move towards Statement Implementation, EAHP also launched a self-assessment tool and the Statement Implementation Learning Collaborative Centres (SILCC) programme. The online self-assessment tool allows hospital pharmacists to assess the level of implementation of the European Statements within their hospitals, while the SILCC programme provides hospital pharmacists with the opportunity to visit hospitals from other EAHP member countries to learn about pharmacy procedures linked to the European Statements. With the help of both of these tools, EAHP has already significantly increased the awareness as shown in the surveys of hospital pharmacy practice.
In case you want to learn more about the European Statements, you can follow EAHP’s social media activities on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter throughout the Statement Implementation month.
Access the Statement website HERE
How to access the EJHP online issues as EAHP member?
Did you know that hospital pharmacists – which are a member of one of EAHP’s national associations – have free access to the European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy (EJHP)? In case you were not aware of this perk, make sure to visit EAHP’s website to learn how you can access the EJHP online.
Learn how to access the EJHP online HERE
‘Europe’s beating cancer plan’ consultation deadline extended
Earlier this year, the European Commission revealed its ideas for ‘Europe’s beating cancer plan’. A public consultation was opened to gather feedback from patients, carers, citizens, health professionals and organisations involved in cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up care and research. The response deadline has now been extended to 21 May 2020.
In case you have not submitted your input, make sure you fill out the consultation via the following LINK!
Updates from the EMA
The latest communication of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) touch on the expansion of the compassionate use of remdesivir and warn healthcare professionals about unproven cell-based therapies.
EMA recommends expanding remdesivir compassionate use to patients not on mechanical ventilation
EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended expanding the compassionate use of the investigational medicine remdesivir so that more patients with severe COVID‑19 can be treated.
In addition to patients undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation, the compassionate use recommendations now cover the treatment of hospitalised patients requiring supplemental oxygen, non-invasive ventilation, high-flow oxygen devices or ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation).
The updated recommendations are based on preliminary results from the NIAID-ACTT study, which suggest a beneficial effect of remdesivir in the treatment of hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19. EMA is currently evaluating these data in the context of the rolling review of remdesivir.
In addition, a treatment duration of 5 days has been introduced alongside the longer 10-day course, based on preliminary results from another study (GS-US-540-5773) suggesting that for patients not requiring mechanical ventilation or ECMO, the treatment course may be shortened from 10 to 5 days without any loss of efficacy. Patients who receive a 5-day treatment course but do not show clinical improvement will be eligible to continue receiving remdesivir for an additional 5 days. The option to shorten treatment duration also means that more patients may be able to receive the medicine, which is in very high demand worldwide.
Although remdesivir is not yet authorised for marketing in the European Union, these recommendations for compassionate use will help some patients with severe COVID-19 access the medicine while EMA evaluates data on its benefits and risks. When the evaluation is complete, EMA will make a recommendation on whether or not remdesivir should receive a marketing authorisation.
More information is available HERE
Please check EMA’s dedicated webpage on COVID-19 for the latest updates.
EMA warns against using unproven cell-based therapies
In April 2020, EMA's Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) advised patients and the general public to beware of unproven cell-based therapies. This followed the appearance of advertisements for cell therapies as cures for serious conditions across the European Union in early 2020.
In its statement: “EMA warns against using unproven cell-based therapies”, the CAT warned against the use of unregulated cell-based therapies, which may be ineffective and increase the risk of serious adverse reactions.
Healthcare providers should explain the benefits and risks of the cell-based therapies that they are providing to patients, as well as confirming that regulatory authorities have approved their use.
Anyone with doubts can contact EMA or their national competent authority.
The CAT’s statement replaces a statement it issued in 2010 following reports of unregulated stem-cell therapies being offered to patients.
More information is available HERE
EJHP: Utility of a trigger tool (TRIGGER-CHRON) to detect adverse events associated with high-alert medications in patients with multimorbidity
The online first edition of the European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy (EJHP) released an original article looking at the detection of adverse events with the help of a trigger tool (TRIGGER-CHRON). The results showed that applying the TRIGGER-CHRON to hospitalised patients with multimorbidity in 12 Spanish centres led to the detection of one adverse event caused by a high-alert drug for every four patients.
Read the article HERE
[COVID-19 Updates]
EAHP’s COVID-19 Resource Centre
To assist its member associations and individual hospital pharmacists in this critical time with the provision of the best possible care for patients, EAHP has decided to gather and make available information on COVID-19 relevant for the hospital pharmacy profession.
Access the Resource Centre HERE
Dutch Federation of Medical Specialists - COVID-19: guidelines, manuals and guidance
The Dutch Federation of Medicinal Specialists has put together an overview of guidelines and other documents for medical specialists to be used in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. These documents are divided into different categories. Hospital pharmacists were involved in their preparation. The information is only available in Dutch.
Learn more HERE
SEFH - Recommendations on the use of disinfectants and cleaning in the areas of development of medicines against COVID-19
The document contains a compilation of various information from national and international organizations on the recommendations for cleaning and disinfection used for the elimination of COVID-19 and the role of sodium hypochlorite. The information is only available in Spanish.
Learn more HERE
Meet EAHP’s Implementation Ambassadors!
To promote the implementation of the European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy at national level EAHP has teamed up with motivated and enthusiastic hospital pharmacists willing to help their countries and others move towards Statement Implementation, the so call “Implementation Ambassadors”. It is their role to
- Act as the primary link in between EAHP, their national associations and the implementation activities done within their countries.
- Convey to EAHP the needs and priorities of their countries regarding Statement implementation.
- Build resources that will help hospital pharmacists, healthcare professionals and other relevant stakeholders to implement the Statements within their hospitals.
In case you are curious about the Implementation Ambassador working in your country you can find out more about him/her via the Statement website.
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Consultations
Commission – Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan
The public consultation for Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is seeking to collect feedback on the pillars of the plan which include cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up care and research from individual citizens, patients, and carers replying in their personal capacity as well as health professionals and organisations.
Deadline – 21st May 2020
Access consultation HERE
Commission – White Paper on Artificial Intelligence
The European Commission is seeking input on its White Paper on Artificial Intelligence (AI) via a public consultation. Stakeholders are encouraged to review the measures and policy options put forward in the AI White Paper.
Deadline – 14th June 2020
Access consultation HERE
