ABPI concern at Welsh formulary proposal

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has noted itsconcern at proposals put to the National Assembly for Wales for the establishment of district-wide drug formularies in the country. The proposals were made in the Report of the Task and Finish Group for Prescribing in Wales, which has been generally welcomed by the ABPI's Wales Industry Group for its "impressive and comprehensive" scope.

In particular, the WIG welcomes the report's emphasis on seeking increased effectiveness and efficacy from drug spending, rather than simply pursuing a cost-cutting agenda. It also supports the report's stress on providing better patient information and choice and the recognition that, as new and better treatments become available, certain prescribing expenditure will increase. Another welcome proposal is the creation of a better co-ordinated system of providing advice on safe and effective prescribing without duplicating the efforts of organizations such as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the British National Formulary, it says.

However, says WIG chairman Peter Harsant, while local formularies can be of great help to doctors, they may be seen as a stepping-stone to a Welsh formulary, which would be costly to produce and need regular review to ensure that it was up-to-date and reflected the needs of Welsh people. Also, any formulary would need to encourage faster access for patients to modern treatments, but the UK is one of the most conservative countries with regard to the uptake of new drugs.