INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH & OPINION

News in brief ...

• NICE will consider cost when recommending new treatments, says the chairman of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK, Sir Michael Rawlins.* 'It is no good us recommending a therapy if there isn't money available', he notes. NICE is being set up in April this year to appraise new treatments and medical devices to provide physicians with clinical guidelines. However, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has expressed concerns that NICE will focus on cost rather than effectiveness. The NHS Confederations chief executive Stephen Thornton was also concerned about the inclusion of cost criteria. Roy Lilley, a former NHS Trust chairman and now a Fellow in Health Studies at Imperial College in London, questions whether 'the real agenda is not what works best for patients, but what works best for the Treasury'. *see also Current Issues section, this issue, p4; 800742646

Dean M. LONDON: a quiet clinical guideline revolution begins. Lancet 353: 651.20 Feb 1999 8007""''

• The WHO* European Partnership Project on Tobacco Dependence has been launched. The Project has been set up in partnership with 3 pharmaceutical companies** with the aim of reducing tobacco-related disease and death among smokers in Europe, Russia and the Central Asian Republics. The Project was announced by WHO director-general Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland in a speech at the World Economic Forum. The Project will support the implementation of the strategic goals of the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative. Tobacco products cause 1.2 million deaths/year in the WHO's European Region, and it has been estimated that this figure will reach 2 million/year by 2020. The economic loss caused by tobacco products has been estimated at ~ $US200 billion/year by the World Bank. * World Health Organization ** Glaxo Wellcome, Novartis Consumer Health and Pharmacia & Upjohn

World Health Organization. WHO launches partnership with the pharmaceutical industry to help smokers quit. Media Release: [2 pages], 30 Jan 1999 800742676

1173-5503/99/0201-00011/$01.00° Adla International Limltad 1999. All rights reserved PhannacoEconomics & Outcomes News 27 Feb 1999 No. 201

J J