As GIMS foundation we have a focus on the improvement of Medication Safety in LMIC’s.  IT is one of the ways to help pharmaceutical professionals to be able to perform these tasks towards their community.  That is why we are in the process of creating ‘GIMS Pro’.

Goal:

Create (locally customized and serviced) open source IT products (software and a national product database) focussed upon pharmaceutical professionals which will be able to help to enhance Medication Safety for the general public in LMIC’s.

These IT products require nationally organized supporting entities for education, technical support, maintenance and further national development.

Ideally these entities are, or will be, incorporated in a national Professional Pharmaceutical Society, or likewise, so the professionals themselves can direct the desired functional IT- and organisational goals/destination, and shall have no commercial goals.

Path:

-The specific national situation (technical, judicial, economical, safety and professional attitude) is sufficiently adequate to start the process.

-GIMS foundation operates as the party which supplies the licence (free of charge) for the standardized IT-products.

-GIMS foundation delivers the corresponding consultancy in the process of realising the nationally desired versions and entities.

-The national entities are, for their territory, the owner of the nationally developed ‘GIMS Pro’-versions.

-GIMS foundation functions after national implementation as a GIMS-family in which users are connected and further developments are guided.

Technical:

-Internet based,

-open source software,

-both a product database and corresponding software is needed,

-product data base derived from the Dutch ‘G-standaard’ and adepted to local situation,

-ideally a patient file database is possible,

-the software should be very flexible in the desired/operational functionalities,

Technical:

-Internet based,

-open source software,

-both a product database and corresponding software is needed,

-product data base derived from the Dutch ‘G-standaard’ and adepted to local situation,

-ideally a patient file database is possible,

-the software should be very flexible in the desired/operational functionalities,

-functionalities can be:

*Dosage control (age and sex dependent)

*Checks on Interactions between co-used medicines

*Checks on Contra-indications:

#Diabetes

#High blood pressure

#Asthma

#HIV, TB, Malaria

#Pregnancy

#Intolerances

#Kidney function

*(pro-)active searches in case of the availability of adequate patient files

“I would like to recommend the importance of the GIMS-Foundation initiative. In general there is a focus on accessability, affordability and quality of the medication in low and middle income countries, but the actual consumption of medication poses new and other questions. Questions wether the right person uses the right medicine, in the right dose, for the right amount of time, in compliance with the advises. The use of medication is always a balance between the expected benefits and the potential side-effects. Lack of balance threatens the patient. Disregarding the medication safety undermines the benefits, is a potential hazard, and is a waste of money. Monitoring medication safety is a key element in the work of health care professionals. The World Health Organization stimulates countries all over the world to establish national bodies for rational use of medicine in particular to find a balance between quality, safety and costs of the actual use of medication. The GIMS Foundation contributes to this balance by stimulating initiatives to guarantee the medication safety and is a partner for local, regional and national organizations. The Dutch Institute for Rational Use of Medicine (IVM) has been very successful in the last 20 years to create the best benefit/risk ratio in the use of medicines in the Netherlands, leading to for example an optimal use of antibiotics and therefore the lowest level of antibiotic resistance in the world. We achieved this in close cooperation with general practitionars, specialists and pharmacists. We thus support the work of the GIMS Foundation and we are willing to cooperate in every possible way.”

Drs. Ruud Coolen van Brakel, director IVM, Dutch Institute for Rational Use of Medicine

In a just relased Dutch Health Inspectorate Investigational  Report titled,  in translation,  ‘Safe prescription must (be) better’ it is stated as an absolute demand that, in order to minimize errors etc, the prescription must be electronical.

veilig-voorschrijven-moet-beter 2017

LMIC’s should also be able to implement some form of electronic prescribing (and dispensing) system in order to help prevent health care risks, from the unsafe prescription/dispensing and use of medicines, for their populations. At the GIMS foundation we are currently working on such a (broadly applicable) IT-tool.

Within Universal Health Care programs an important role is defined for Medicines Benefit programs.

MSH is a very active organisation in that theme: MSH: managing medicines_benefits_making_universal_health_coverage_a_reality (29-02-216)

Conclusion of the MSH publication: “The objective is to create awareness of the key considerations for designing a sustainable medicines benefit program in LMICs. Ultimately, if people can better incorporate medicines in their [universal health coverage] programs, then we will be meeting the objective [of universal health coverage], which is to reduce out of pocket payments and ensure equitable access to quality care.’

At the GIMS office we think; besides the needed Medicines Benefits Program  a parallel Medication Safety Program should be created!

Today, 25th of May 2016, a side event was organised by the WHO at the 69th World Health Assembly with a clear focus; Medication Safety.

“Addressing the Global Challenge of Medication Safety to Improve Patient Safety and Quality of Care”.

The side event session will review the problem of unsafe medication practices and existing challenges to medication safety; explore key strategies for the safety of medication practices, and reduction of medication errors and medication-associated harm to improve patient safety and quality of care; and introduce the next WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge on Medication Safety for high-level advocacy and call for concerted global and country actions on medication safety.

The side event is co-chaired by:
His Excellency Piotr Stachazyk, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of
Poland to the UN Office in Geneva
Sir Liam Donaldson, WHO Envoy for Patient Safety
Dr Edward Kelley, Director, Service Delivery and Safety Department, WHO

The side event is sponsored by Poland and co-sponsored by Malaysia, Oman
and Sri Lanka.

For additional information, please contact
Dr Neelam Dhingra, Coordinator, Patient Safety and Quality Improvement, WHO
dhingran@who.int

We look forward to your attendance!

Best,

Shelby Kemper, PharmD, MPH
Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Unit
World Health Organization
kempers@who.int

On the 11th of April the ‘Universities Allied for Essential Medicines‘ (UAEM) organised a debate in Maastricht.

GIMS was invited as a speaker and was also possible to make the point that ‘better acces to medicines ALSO means better safety measures are necessary’.

From the PGEU website:

‘Community pharmacists have been working in the development of processes and tools to ensure Patient Safety in community pharmacies, but it is important that both community pharmacists and health policy makers realise the synergies that can arise from integrating those processes in the Patient Safety path.

Moreover, community pharmacy practice is becoming patient centred and process oriented. Dispensing the appropriate medicine and providing the relevant information and care, to the right person, at the right time is central in the community pharmacist’s daily practice. All pharmacists’ daily activities are one way or another linked to Patient Safety. That is why it is not possible to identify single initiatives towards ensuring Patient Safety in community pharmacies without contextualizing them in the community pharmacy setting, the distribution chain and the continuum of care.

However, medication safety is certainly an area where pharmacists’ expertise are of vital importance.’

On the 7th of January GIMS was happy to perform a presentation in the section ‘Work in Progress’ at the WHO Winter Meeting of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmaceutical  Policy and Regulation in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Interest from the audience was generated and new contacts were made.

The Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU), an international/European federation of the national pharmacists’ associations is completely clear in it’s mission statement;

Medication Safety is the number one topic for pharmacists.

At GIMS we clearly welcome this strategic positioning and responsibility of the pharmacists.

Positive interactions and questions followed after the GIMS presentation at the Pharmabridge session. Especially with international academics contacts can and will grow.

For the FIP congres 2016 in Buenos Aires a poster presentation is the goal.