Kusuri-no-Check

"Check-up Your Medicines to Save Your Life"

No.3 Hypertension

Message from Aborad

Kusuri-no-Check: Cooridinated Credible Independent Information for both Consumers and Professionals

Mary Hemming
CEO, Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd. (Australia)


As Chief Executive Officer of Therapeutic Guildelines Ltd (TGL) I am delighted that NPOJIP is publishing information for consumers.

NPOJIP is translating and publishing the Therapeutic Guidelines that are produced by my organization. TGL, like NPOJIP, is committed to best practice. So naturally the Guideline recommendations are based on the latest world literature, interpreted and summarised by the most experienced authorities. Therapeutic Guidelines are recognised in many countries as an invaluable resource for medical practitioners, pharmacists, dentists and nurses, as well as medical educators and students. Because they are helpful to the health professionals, they also ultimately benefit medical consumers.

In ths information technology revolution, the amount of medical information that is easily accessible to medical consumers is increasing rapidly. However, most of this information is of poor quality, from unknow or dubious sources, or from sources with vested interests such as pharmaceutical industry. Medical consumers, like health professionals, have a right to have access to credible high quality independent evidence-based information.

The Informed Prescriber (TIP) and NPOJIP have a long and respected history of producing the highest quality, independent, evidence-based information for health professionals.

It is good news for consumers that NPOJIP is now catering to their needs.

An additonal benefit of the one organisation producing information for both health professionals and medical consumers is that the information can be coordinated to make sure that doctors, pharmacists and patients will all receive corresponding messages. This must surely lead to the best outcomes for everyone. Doctors and pharmacists will welcome having informed patients. Medical consumers will appreciate being able to understand their options better. It will be a win-win situation.

I have been very impressed with NPOJIP's history of working with consumers and I have witnessed this first hand. In 1999 I was very kindly invited to participate in the EBM-pharmacovigilance seminar that was organised by NPOJIP. The things that impressed me the most were the high profile that medical consumers were given during the seminar, and the understanding, by the health professionals, of the imporatnce of medical consumers.

The core members of NPOJIP are those who published a drug bulletin (TIP) with independent information for health professionals in the early years. And, now the innovation continues with NPOJIP, in cooperation with TIP, developing independent information for medical consumers and doing something about this important issue while other groups are still talking about it.

Best wishes NPOJIP, with Kusuri-no-check-wa-inochi-no-check.