WHO/EDM-UNICEF Technical Briefing Seminar

Annex 3

Participant comments

WHO/EDM-UNICEF Technical Briefing Seminar

15-19 March 2004

This long unsorted listing is primarily intended as feedback for presenters and organisers. Quotes are verbatim and a number of positive but non discriminatory comments have been left out of the list of evaluations if they had previously been said e.g. good presentation, very interesting, very good presentation, Great!, excellent information/discussions, very well presented, very informative information, Quite good, Good, Excellent day, etc

Monday 15 March

1) 25 Years of Essential Drugs/Medicines- Impact & Challenges

Very enthusiastic
Good overview
For all sessions it is important that there is room for questions and interaction
Update the presentation
Should have emphasised the way forward
If only relevant papers could be distributed earlier(It is unclear what earlier means; before the seminar or at the start of the session? Copies for this session were provided at the onset of the presentation)
Sets the scene for the briefing

2) National Drug Policies

Good overview, good group discussion
I learnt how important it is to have a national drug policy
Participants to be encouraged to give views on situations in their countries, probably a pre seminar summary of the situation in their country would be helpful
It is useful how Richard Laing cites country examples
More information needed on country implementation of National Drug Policies.
I would like to see more updated information/data regarding country situations
Excellent overview but as is overview, is short: More coverage of the components of the National Drug Policy
Nice with the emphasis on stakeholders: more of this

3) Update 2004 WHO Model List of Essential Medicines: Selection, evidence-based approach

Some repetition from session 1
Has improved both process and outcome –CONGRATULATIONS
Very useful description of the Expert Committee process
Generated many questions and discussion and sharing. A lot of repeated slides from previous lecture (session 1)
The process was interesting to hear about

4) WHO EMLibrary/ Model Formulary / EDMDocumentCenter,

Give short handout to remind people (where was this participant when the handout was distributed?)

Very helpful, good to learn of document availability. CDR is great.
Presentation good, but less clear/visible from the back of the room: Make it more interactive at the end of the day
An impressive information tool
I have a new knowledge about WHO website
A little confusing. Use less abbreviations
Excellent resource even though still work in progress.
An incredibly useful resource. This is something I’ve been hoping for for a long time and even thought about seeking funding to develop!
Highly impressive with the importance of the centre.
There may it be a supplementary useful information in the price database such as suppliers international certificates (i.e. ISO 9000), kind of packing (bulk, blister etc it implies on the final costs) (difficult to read)
Very interesting useful, could be taught at a computer facility for students to visit different sites and access different documents
A lot of information and good advertisement for the site and is very useful as one browses the WHO homepage, may miss the EMLib.
Highly relevant & useful for daily work

Tuesday 16 March 2004

5) Medicine/Drug regulation and quality assurance

Next time workshop plenary sessions should be incorporated to allow the sharing of experiences from various parts of the world so as to make issues more practical
The written presentation (handout?)would benefit from being more detailed
A bit more interaction in small groups would be good to keep it a bit more moving
Whole day very interesting, but also very much information. Pay attention to interactions. Presentations (handouts?) beforehand are really very helpful
Very useful explanation of originator v multisource manufacturers. Including country examples in the presentations would be helpful.
Maybe I was sleepy and not following these two lectures well but I’m thinking that SK’s presentation was more general and should possibly have preceded LR’s. Given dark and warm room, the continuous lecture was trying.
LR: Excellent. Difficult topic made very accessible. SK Good talk. Good synthesis of WHO work and position. Please give handouts before talk. SK referenced numerous QSM documents without giving the actual titles – frustrating –perhaps provide handout with document titles.

6) Assessment/strengthening regulatory capacity assessment

Summary document in print should be made available instead of referring to download on the internet
Professional Associations should be involved to work side by side to the Drug Regulatory Authority
Some elements were too detailed (EW presentation)
A bit more interaction in small groups would be good to keep it a bit more moving
Could use more practical examples
As it is a key element in the quality of the pharmaceutical system in a country, may be more time should be spent on the presentation.
Nice introduction by VR with helpful presentation visually of how regulatory mechanisms cannot be identical given varying country circumstances.
VR Good talk, interested and interesting. EW talka little to long slow. Black arrows on blue background not visible projected or printed. Could use references on Drug Information

7) Pre-qualification of essential medicines

WHO should try to assist those countries that do not have a Drug Regulatory Authority or are not able to establish any due to lack of personnel
Define prequalification more comprehensively if possible
A bit more interaction in small groups would be good to keep it a bit more moving
Great, would have liked to delve deeper into reasons against prequalification
Session should be moved from after lunch time to a better appropriate moment when people are more “aggressive”
A critical presentation
Very important topic, very well presented. Good use of time (including skipping slides to met time). Actually would have liked more time for this topic.

8) Medicine procurement, supply and distribution

Not enough discussion
More detailed written material
Good to do the case studies
Use of case study very positive
Very interesting debate and country case study
Good to include this presentation. Although it repeats some information, it ties together many topics covered in previous presentations with a practical applications slant.
Very good talk, case study useful, made material real.
Please add speakers names to evaluation forms (noted)

Wednesday 17 March 2004

9) Access to essential medicines: franework

It is important when asks for people’s opinions, to use these opinions and inputs
Duplication of presentation done before (session 8?)
Good use of participation & input from the class. Good to repeat some of the concepts such as EML stemming from STGs. Good graphical depictions of access issues.
Interactive and good presentation
Highlighted some issues which I’ve never thought about with regard to access to drugs
Discussion at the beginning good, good way to start the day. Good adaptation of talk in real time to skip previously discussed material
Very clear, more examples of access issues

10) HIV/AIDS

More practical cases (even though I know it has just started)
Very useful orientation to AMDS. Given all the questions about this new initiative, the approach employed to address them all was very effective.
Good presentation. More time for discussion needed
Has brought up many matters/areas which I have no experience or knowledge of, and hence has been very educational and enlightening to me
Very useful talk – 3 x 5 so important. Needed more time. Excellent job in the time allotted
Need more time for this to discuss issues

11)Malaria

Nice opening approach engaging the participants. Therapeutic efficacy of SP slide is a bit confusing. Perhaps there is a clearer way to present this data. Would have been helpful to obtain more info M2S2 initiative. I understand it is new but this is the perfect venue to provide us with info on it. This was a missed opportunity I feel: And response to questioning was not complete
Good presentation. More time for discussion needed. Presentation (handout) in advance useful
Big issue and short session
Has brought up many matters/areas which I have no experience or knowledge of, and hence has been very educational and enlightening to me. The publication of the quality tests of different antimalarials in Africa is just mind boggling
Great talk – very – timely - useful to get overview of ACTs and associated problems. Speak a little louder

12) Tuberculosis:

Too short
Too short. TB always gets too little attention
RL knows this topic so well, that its always a good presentation. Sorry he got short time – but it was the right presentation to cut
Good but rather concise and too little time for discussion
Big issue and short session
Need enough time to discuss TB medicines
Not enough time to hear more on this topic
Insufficient time for talk; handled time shortage well
A pity that it was shortened
The time was so restricted
Would be interesting to know more about WHO strategies for HIV/AIDS and TB

13) Medicine prices: WHO/NGO Price Survey Methodology

I think it is an important but (delicated?) approach Its important to discus better the methodological details to enforce reliability and understanding of validity
Very interesting , also more time needed for policy part
Good to have objectives of presentation presented at the start of LL’s & AC’s presentations. Interesting method of presented by LL. Although the Kuwait information is interesting the way it was presented was not concise or clearly understandable. Given so much preliminary info available, would it be best to highlight a couple of points only and leave sufficient time for final speaker and questions. Although it was really interesting to hear about KT’s and LL’s work, I think it might have been more beneficial to hear more from AC, particularly the policy info. KT & LL raised great issues, but perhaps shorter, tighter presentations by them with more analysis + discussion lead by AC might have been better.
Very interesting presentations
Interesting topic to be discussed further
Synopses of studies generated much interest and the study methodology can be should be used by countries to help them do their own price studies . results used to drive policies.
Really important topic! Good to see data

14) Survey of procurement in Church-based facilities

Nice to have different perspective
Work in progress
I was not clear on the research questions. Presentation was rather vague
Presentation of the study only, should be accelerated to get data as soon as possible
Generally informative – never heard of FBO, could perhaps elaborate on this especially on their roles and function/work generally
Interesting but would like to have had more details
Look forward to results

Thursday 18 March 2004

General Comment: It would be useful to get EDM phone list at the beginning of the week. Also need to include those who presented to us but not on the list i.e. SL and CO

15) WHO strategy for working with and in countries (SA – GF)

Although the organisation of entities at high level is rather ethereal in most cases, it’s still useful to be exposed to the attempt to get organised. Good to hear SA present this info, though it seemed like a lot of words with little substance. GF needs to increase his volume. I was lucky to be at the front today.
Very good presentation by GF
Very interesting and comprehensive debate
Until now the least inspiring session, though highly relevant. Too much information, not enough time for discussion. Identify clearly, key information and problems. For all sessions do not put too much information on the slide/sheet – difficult to follow and later reread
Too much detail on structures: more” vivid” presentations would be welcomed
Lot of words where is the action?
Both talks could be made more relevant: SA Please explain abbreviations: CSU, PME; GMG, PRP, HRS, CBF…… GF Please speak louder
Quite diplomatic talk

16) EDM strategy for working with countries- The Africa region: 3 x 5 initiative

Very very useful to learn about EDM’s efforts to assess ARV availability. I have a problem with presentation of data for country B. Probably best not to present data which is invalid. Availability indicator requires a physical inventory, so if this was not done, then say so. But “No records” or even “No data” is really not clear depiction of situation
Excellent presentation: waiting for the results of the study. Excellent debate
Work in progress clearly, but interesting and highly relevant
Would have loved more on going discussions
Excellent talk – evidence based. Current
“Down to ground” debate very important
I guess when research is not concluded the most important aspect to be stressed is the pro and limitations of the methodological approach (not very clear this statement)

17) Indicators on pharmaceutical situations

Good review
Very good useful presentation
Good talks good speakers. Useful tool with good explanation with evidence collected to demonstrate the” real world”

18) Globalisation, international trade agreements, Doha, Cancun

Very helpful
Very good presentation
Excellent presentation by CO
Very good useful presentation
Very clear exposure on a cloudy matter
Important issue; case study would be interesting
Speaker spoke too quickly
It is heavy going but explained well. CO has added to my understanding
Excellent stand in! Very much and complete information; so enough time is essential: Excellent sheets.
Great that CO managed to stand in for GV. More time for this topic – very important but complicated
Way to much information within one hour, not at all clear for non lawyers or someone without previous background
Very good job covering someone else’s talk. Very very important. Some aspects weren’t defined in talk…..
Well presented, group discussion would have been useful. Not fully exhausted in my opinion, appears to have been rushed

Friday 19 March 2004

19) Pharmacovigilance

Nice overview. Needs more specific tools/instruments for implementing such a scheme
Give more information on the ways to report and highlight the importance of doctors having to report to pharmacist for adverse reactions (antagonism between MD and pharmacists)
Nice to put names to presentation subjects. Useful info shared
Excellent talk. Began with basics and built up. Good synthesis of very important material. Good presentation style.
Clear presentation, good introduction to range of materials and support approaches by WHO
Good sheets, would have been helpful to have them in advance.
Case study would make the presentation more concrete.
Exciting!
Would be interesting to see research done with reporting by healthcare professional…should/could Pharmacovigilance be included in main curricula in health schools?
As it applies to traditional medicine has not been highlighted
Show more examples to put things into context and perspective.

20) Promoting rational medicine use

Excellent presentation. The following could be added * reimbursement as a tool for improving RUD & the importance of reference pricing both for synonyms and analogue drugs for RUD
Very good interactive session. Well done! Next seminar should include more time for this topic; PRDU for prescribers and PRDU in the community
More time for this
It was well presented and has been beneficial
Move this session from the last one in the agenda to another time in the week. Show evidence, if any, that rational drug use might not be so good in developed countries
I like KH’s interactive style to present the key points in her presentation.
Important, but just too many facts. Could this talk be split into 2 parts on two days. Many charts not readable in black and white.
Not as clear on tools and approaches that could be used and drawn upon. Too much to cover in too short a time – needs longer session and possibly earlier in the agenda of the week – RDU is a critical element in whether change happens.
Interaction is good, but questions were not always clear to me! Probably because I am not really working in this field.
Very good integration of studies to illuminate the issue.
Stimulating and interactive
Very interesting!
Very good and clear presentation style. Good examples
Very loaded information [loaded in the sense of too much, not biased I hope!? RG] Suggestion: Few selected (2) of good cases and (2) bad cases across the globe would be beneficial
Excellent great and interesting
Well balanced in the realities and advances made in this area. Excellent talk. More time to be allocated for this topic
Very important well presented session. This session should have been given more time for review and discussion.

21) General Comments on the Seminar

An excellent training seminar – it is just a pity that time is so limited. The most outstanding was the prequalification programme and the RUD presentation
Very welcome and interesting seminar. The more interactive the sessions, the more interesting. Some presentations were “dull” and therefore not interesting (e.g. session 15) Good reading material and handouts. You could hand out some reading material for reading before each day. RL is an excellent and well informed facilitator. And Robin has a very good sense of humour! (Thanks. Glad you noticed. It makes it all worth while! RG). Thanks a lot for being given the chance to join this seminar.
Extremely good/helpful getting all the presentations on the CD-ROM!!! (could, though, have been announced on day 1)[Yes it could have been announced on day 1 but there was only a 50/50 chance that it would be available by 12.00 on Friday. It is foolish to contract/announce something one may not be able to deliver. However there is next time and the comment is noted .RG] Very nice with all the “high level” presentations making the workshop/briefing very good. Good to meet so many of the EDM team.
On the whole the seminar is good but why not rotate it? i.e. one time in Geneva and another time in South Africa or Ghana[The answer to that is quite simply money.