The public drug database launched tomorrow aims to provide the French with more transparent information on products. It will also remind them of the proper use of treatments.
The public database on the drug wanted by the Government will arrive on your computers, via the site www.medicaments.gouv.fr. The Official Journal has, in fact, published a decree on Sunday providing some details on this database which will be launched Tuesday by the Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine. From October 1, it will be accessible, freely and free of charge for all French people. This database will allow the general public and healthcare professionals to access data and reference documents on drugs marketed or having been marketed during the last two years in France.
In the end, no less than 22 pieces of information are likely to appear on the site for each specialty. Among them, the price, the instructions, or even the product’s health safety information. This new official source will be responsible for providing the French with more transparent information; it will also remind them of the correct use of the medication.
Transparent and impartial information on the drug
After the various health scandals on drugs (Mediator, new generation pills, Diane 35 …), the Government now wishes to play transparency on drugs currently marketed. The site www.medicaments.gouv.fr. unveiled last week by the Minister of Health thus allows all users to know the adverse effects of a treatment and the drugs subject to specific monitoring. Impartial information which will be regularly updated by the ministry, in complete independence from the pharmaceutical industry.
A site to empower the user
This database is also an opportunity for the public authorities to make the user responsible. The waste and overconsumption of drugs still weigh on the accounts of Social Security, already largely in deficit (16.5 billion in 2013). In its last report on the analysis of drug sales in France in 2012, the Medicines Agency indicated that the French were still among the greatest followers of drugs, they still consume an average of 48 boxes per year. The site and the database will thus remind everyone how to properly use a product. Detailed information of good use and intended for both the patient and the healthcare professional.
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