Just 5 weeks remaining for hospital pharmacists to benefit from early Congress registration fee!
 

Hospital Pharmacists are reminded that there are just five weeks remaining to benefit from the reduced registration fee for the 2013 EAHP Congress in Paris.

Individuals who complete the online registration process before 1 December 2012 can benefit from the early rate of €600, a 25% reduction on the full registration fee.

Registration entitles individuals to attend the full three days of Congress, which includes:
• 3 keynote speakers addressing issues such as the hospital pharmacist role in multidisciplinary teams, the hospital pharmacist role in preventing critical incidents, and the hospital pharmacist impact on critical care;
• 5 seminars on therapeutic topics including multidisciplinary approaches to nutrition, ethics and risks in antibiotic prophylaxis, hospital pharmacy standards in paediatrics, team challenges in cancer and innovative approaches to wound care;
• 5 seminars focused on operational issues including use of technology in hospital pharmacy processes, medication reconciliation, improving the prescription process, vigilance challenges, and medicines access across the interface;
• 3 conceptual seminars on issues such as accreditation and quality management, inter-professional learning, and trends in communication;
• 3 workshops on matters such as abstract writing, discharge care planning and drug related problems; and,
• the first EAHP Synergy Programme, a schedule of ACPE accredited educational events in topic areas such as biosimilar medicines, anticoagulants, logistics and robotics, and new molecular strategies in oncology.
 

Registration also gives access to the exhibition area, the poster abstract walk, networking events and discounted hotel accommodation.
 

More information about the 2013 Congress, its preliminary programme, and how to register is available here: http://www.eahp.eu/congresses

European Medicines Agency recommends approval of higher-strength (100 units/ml and 200 units/ml) insulin 
 

The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has made a recommendation to give marketing authorisation to insulin degludec, a new basal analogue insulin for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in adults. It is introduced in a pre-filled pen in two formulations – 100 units/ml and 200 units/ml.

This is the first insulin approved in Europe at a higher strength than the EU-wide standard of 100 units/ml, for many years the only strength of insulin available across the EU. It will be marketed under the trade name Tresiba.

The approval of a 200 units/ml insulin, allowing doses up to 160 units in a single injection, is expected to respond to the growing need for higher-dose insulin. Weight gain, less healthy diets and less physical activity often mean that patients may experience higher levels of insulin resistance and require insulin injections in higher doses to achieve glycaemic control. It is estimated that between 200,000 and 700,000 diabetes patients in the EU require insulin injections of over 80 units per injection to manage their blood-sugar levels. The maximum dose that can be given with a single injection of a 100 units/ml product is 80 units.

More information here: http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/news_and_events/news/2012/10/news_detail_001638.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058004d5c1

Other decisions by the October meeting of the CHMP are available here:
http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/news_and_events/news/2012/10/news_detail_001635.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058004d5c1
 

Malta nominates Dr Tonio Borg as new EU Health Commissioner

Following the recent resignation of John Dalli, Malta has put forward Dr Tonio Borg, current Maltese Foreign Minister, as their candidate to lead the Health and Consumer portfolio at the European Commission.

The nomination must now be approved by the European Parliament and the European Council (Heads of States). The hearing in the European Parliament will take place in the coming weeks and before the end of the year.

Dr Borg is a lawyer specialised in Human Rights and a lecturer in Public Law at the University of Malta. Previous positions include Director of Mid-Med Bank Ltd - a Maltese Environment and Planning Authority.

More information here: http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2012/october/tonio-borg-nominated-as-dalli-s-replacement/75453.aspx

EJHP: Editorial article on improving standards of clinical research reporting

A new editorial article was published on the online first section of the EJHP website this week calling for increased standards in clinical research reporting in response to studies identifying serious reporting short comings in published health research.
Contributed by Dr Sally Hopewell, of the Centre for Statistics in Medicine, University of Oxford, and Iveta Simera, Head of Programme Development at the EQUATOR Network, the article looks at the many identified problems in research reporting, including publication bias, selective publication, distorted interpretation of results and omission of information.

The article reviews and considers three of the most commonly used reporting guidelines: the Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials (CONSORT), Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) Statements.

Full article here: http://ejhp.bmj.com/content/early/2012/10/25/ejhpharm-2012-000204.full