National Bioethics Committee Guidelines For Healthcare Professionals interaction with Pharma trade and industry

Healthcare professionals and pharma industry are an integral part of health care delivery system the world over. The prime beneficiary of the relationship of the two is the patient as long as this relationship is based on strong ethical principles. Increasingly, however, ethical considerations in the recent years have been observed to be violated due to financial and economic interests. Thus this relationship has come under intense scrutiny and a lot of criticism during the last several years within Pakistan as well as globally. Pharma industry and the companies making medical devices and products which help practicing modern medicine and healthcare professionals have to interact with the industry for developing new treatment, conduct studies besides implementing clinical trials. However, their impact on patient care, medical research, medical education, besides physicians professional relationship with the industry are concerns constantly being expressed by the general public as well as the medical press. At the same time one also hears voices which challenge these concerns and emphasize the positive value of these interactions which is also getting place in the media.