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Pharmaceutical industry donates
millions of DM worth of medications for Kosovo refugees Member companies of the German Pharma Health Fund e. V. (GPHF) and the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (Verband Forschender Arzneimittelhersteller e. V. - VFA) have already provided medications to a value of much more than DM 2 million to humanitarian relief organizations assisting the refugees from Kosovo. The medications have been made available to charities such as the German Caritas organization and the German Red Cross, which can use them as required in the refugee camps. The GPHF is coordinating the donations in cooperation with the Committee for Humanitarian Aid of the German Foreign Ministry and with the German Health Ministry. The following companies have already provided medications for the refugees: Bayer AG, Berlin-Chemie AG, Chiron Behring GmbH, Fatol Arzneimittel GmbH, Grünenthal GmbH, Hoechst Marion Roussel Deutschland GmbH, Janssen-Cliag GmbH, Jenapharm GmbH, Knoll AG, Krewel Meuselbach GmbH, Schwarz Pharma AG and Zeneca GmbH. The medications are mainly antibiotics, pain-killers, drugs for treating gastro-intestinal disorders, and vaccines. Numerous other companies, such as Byk Gulden Lomberg GmbH, Eisai GmbH, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Merck KgaA and Novartis Pharma GmbH, have also indicated that they will support this program or have already provided medications for refugees through independently run charitable programs. Detailed information on the GPHF program for assisting refugees from Kosovo can be obtained from the GPHF, P. O. Box 150 123, 60061 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, tel./fax: +49 69 63 15 32 57, email: info@gphf.org
GPHF program featured on TV The GPHF program to coordinate donations of medications for the Kosovo refugees was featured recently on German television. Dr. Gabriele Küsters informed millions of viewers about the GPHF program in the TV show "Wir wollen helfen!" (We want to help!) devoted to raising money for the refugees, which was shown on Germany's ZDF channel at 8.15 pm on April 15, 1999.
New GPHF Board Members The GPHF elected a new Board of Directors at the General Meeting held on March 10, 1999. The new Chairperson of the Board is Dr. Gabriele Küsters (Hoechst Marion Roussel), who was previously the Executive Director. Dr. Carola Fink-Anthe (Boehringer Ingelheim), who has also been a member of the GPHF Board for a long time, was elected as the Vice-Chairperson. Dr. Hilmar Kienzl will now take over the position of Executive Director. Dr. Joachim Moormann, who represents Sanavita Gesundheitsmittel GmbH on the GPHF Board, will continue to be the Treasurer of the GPHF. Two new Board Members, Dr. Frank-Ulrich Fricke (Novartis Pharma GmbH) and Bernd Maehliss (Schering AG), were elected to succeed Joachim A. Ernst (Bayer AG) and Joachim Trautschold (Schering AG), who did not stand for re-election. Dr. Heinz Jürgen Diesner (Grünenthal GmbH), Michael Raulf (VFA) and Patrick Schwarz-Schütte (Schwarz Pharma AG) were re-elected to the Board.
GPHF participates in discussions at Congress of Internal Medicine Dr. Küsters was the GPHF representative on the panel discussing "The opportunities and limits of medical assistance in the Third World" during the 105th Congress of Internal Medicine in Wiesbaden, Germany on April 10, 1999. Dr. Küsters provided a large audience with details of the GPHF model projects, an initiative by the research-based pharmaceutical manufacturers in Germany to improve health care in the developing countries. Representatives of the WHO and of non-governmental relief organizations were also on the discussion panel. The Kölner Austausch Projekt (KAP), which organized the event, succeeded in attracting prominent participants for the discussion panel.
GPHF now official partner of the WHO In January 1999 the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva agreed to establish official relations with the GPHF, which had applied for this status last year. The GPHF regards this decision by the WHO as a recognition of the many years of successful cooperation between the two organizations, which are currently jointly managing projects in Laos and Mauretania. The GPHF now has the right to send delegates to WHO conferences and to compile memoranda for WHO committees. The WHO only establishes official relations with organizations which meet their strict criteria.
Great interest in GPHF Minilab® There is great interest worldwide in the GPHF Minilab®. GPHF Project Manager Dr. Jähnke has already received more than 100 inquiries from practically all the developing countries. Leading representatives of national drug regulatory agencies in Africa and Asia have welcomed the mobile mini-laboratory for detecting poor-quality and counterfeit medications, which is suitable for use in the tropics. Its many uses were demonstrated during a seminar organized by the German Development Service (DED - Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst) in Berlin in April.
Cornerstones of Germany's future policies
for development aid The new German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul (SPD), has formulated the cornerstones of Germany's future policies in the field of international aid. The new coalition government in Germany intends to promote and advance development policy as a global structural policy in order to improve the economic, social, environmental and political structures in our partner countries in the South and East, as well as to improve global structures to facilitate sustainable development. Ms Wieczorek-Zeul confirmed that her ministry has succeeded in obtaining a higher priority for development policies in the last few months. This is illustrated by the increased funding for the Development Ministry (up 1.8% in real terms to approx. DM 7.8 billion) made available in the 1999 German Budget. The German government also expects new impetus to be provided as a result of the strengthening and improved coordination of development policies at the European level and of the more active role now played by Germany in international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations. In this context the government's hopes for progress rest on the social and environmental aspects of the structural adjustment programs as well as on the success of the already implemented initiative to reduce the heavy debts of many of the poorest countries. The new Minister for Development places special emphasis on the important role which NGOs will play in development policies in future. The German government has acknowledged the increasing importance of their work, for example by recently topping up the funds available for NGO projects by DM 2 million.
Good response to 1999 GPHF call for donations There has been an excellent response so far to the call for donations to support the GPHF's 1999 projects. The GPHF would like to take this opportunity to express its gratitude to the following member companies for their generous readiness to donate:
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"The budgets of many developing countries still provide more money for the
military than for healthcare."
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