Travel Europe Latin America invented diseases Yes, many days and without updating the blog. A trip to Caracas (Venezuela) and Bogota (Colombia) has kept me busy for the past week. The reason was an invitation from the Ministry of Health vanezolano and PVDSA Department of Health, the largest company in Venezuela to participate in an event, the First International Symposium Drugs and Public Health that these two institutions have organized Caracas.
A total success, from my point of view. The hall of this company, which hosted the event, one-day, was full, about 450 people counting so low, most doctors, pharmacists, health professionals or senior officials of the health system. I was struck by the enormous interest the audience.
I'm used to public events in which I participate has a good level of knowledge of the topics covered in Venezuela but the warmth of the people who came to listen to lectures, his interest topics, participiación in the act, was special.
The Venezuelan government is making a major effort to boost public health system and its quality, and this meeting was a good example of this.
I had to be the one who opened the symposium, discussing the production of disease. Invited participants were luxury. Behind me spoke by videoconference Australian journalist Ray Moynihan, authentic pioneer and expert in spreading the phenomenon of inventing diseases. Nuria continued Homedes (director of essential drugs Bulletin, without whose existence could not have written my book dealers health , incidentally) Health activist Teresa Alves Action International (HAI) and very good speaker, Pearl Buschiazzo, especially Argentina in rational drug prescribing and access to them, and Claudia Vacca, a researcher at the Colombian civil organization Ifarma professor of Pharmacy at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
A trip as brief but very intense in there to thank the organizing effort realizado, su claridad de ideas y el despliegue de medios hecho para concretar en una jornada tantas voces hablando de asuntos tan necesarios para la ciudadanía, y que esta supo aprovechar.
Y aprovechando, valga la redundancia, que estaba en Venezuela y que en Colombia se había organizado un evento similar por las mismas fechas, Ifarma y la Universidad Nacional de Colombia me invitaron a dirigirme a Bogotá. En dicho espacio participamos Teresa Alves y yo, ella habló sobre agencias regulatorias y yo titulé mi intervención Morir en busca de salud , sobre la crisis de credibilidad de la industria farmacéutica, como me habían solicitado.
We presented the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and involved a public health professor and one of economics. Again I was surprised by the social commitment of these and the public, very large and mostly young, with the exception of two prominent lawyers who often represent the major pharmaceutical companies in Colombia.
The next day was very intense, the days start very soon in Latin America. Also in prime time I interviewed a well known doctor in Colombia, Carlos Francisco Fernandez, Medical Advisory Group Time, the most widespread in the country of Colombia. The interview to a TV Andean dealt with the manufacture of diseases because in the afternoon, the newspaper said, prepared a forum with the principal leaders of the sector in which Teresa Alves again and I went to speak to doctors, agency officials or spokespersons Colombian drug lab employers and pharmaceutical industry influence health and disease in our welfare.
Departed, publicly and privately with one of the heads of one of the patron saint of laboratories in Colombia, and even had time to learn that in that forum was present, but not even speaking I was invited to it, "someone who, after Following the event, made a call to one of the heads of one of the multinational pharmaceutical companies operating in Colombia. Informed about what we told Teresa and me. Mostly spent their time discussing what I had explained in my speech arousing their curiosity and your partner the seriousness of the facts I cited relating to certain laboratories and to speak publicly about it. He also spent time in various insults.
We came very pleased with our stay in Colombia and the agency worried that drug in that country has in its board representatives of the pharmaceutical industry conflict of interest that administration officials do not see health as such, although they show some interest in ethics and move towards independence.