Pfizers miljö- och ansvarsblogg

Social Media - some trends within the pharma sector

Kategorier:

The pharma news letter Pharma Online organized a conference yesterday about the use of social media within the pharma sector (”Sociala medier inom läkemedelsområdet” - join the Linkedin group with the same name and/or view comments on twitter with hashtag #lmsocmed).

Over 60 participants, mostly of course from pharmeceutical companies gathered to listen to

- Hans Kullin from Eklips (the social media guru at the conference),

- Rikard Pellas from LIF, the association of the research based pharmaceutical industry in Sweden (the expert on how to apply the LIF’s ethical rules to social media),

- Elisabeth Eklund and Henrik Bengtsson from Delphi (lawyers who could explain at least what shouldn’t be done…),

- Myself, describing three different experiences Pfizer have had with social media (”can you feel my pain“, Dizza Tobak, and this blog), and

- Hanna Brodda, editor of Dinamediciner.se

As you can see, a fairly broad selection of speakers. But the conference would not have been as good if the audience would not have participated the way they did. Really good discussions!

Some reflections from my side include the very clear message that social media grows enormously fast, e.g. Facebook has over 800 million users today, only last year 100 billion pictures were uploaded on Facebook, and there were more than 1000 billion showings of videos on YouTube during 2011. It is difficult to really understand the huge possibilities and both positive and potentially negative consequences of this…

I have written blog posts on social media use before (see for instance the 2011 posts Oct 26 regarding Worldfavor, Oct 6 regarding some Pfizer experiences, Aug 24 on the use within health care, April 5 on stakeholder dialogue, and from 2010 Nov 24 also on stakeholder engagement). You know that my opinion is that Social media is not really something that dramatically changes what “we can and what we cannot do” when it comes to communication. The same rules apply to these communication channels as to the old ones. This was also clearly stated by both the lawyers from Delphi and by Rikard Pellas. The difference however is of course that everything is much faster: It reaches out to everyone, and everything once posted on the net seem to be there forever. So although the same rules apply our own culture and our internal guidelines for the use of social media have probably not been able to develop as fast as the social media platforms have. It was good to see LIF’s guiding document how the ethical rules should be understood in the social media world (see this link for details).

Potentially due to the lack of the internal guidance documents, the pharma industry have been very careful (some would say scared and slow) in starting to use social media platforms in their communications, marketing, and CSR strategies. Some companies have however slowly started to adapt to the changing media environment and I feel proud that Pfizer is one of the leaders in the industry. See for instance our Corporate Facebook page, and follow us on http://twitter.com/pfizer. And by all means, go to the Facebook page of our initiative Can You Feel My Pain, or view some of my favourite uploaded contributions from teenagers involved in the Dizza Tobak project (for instance “Love this way to die“).

So although we may feel unsecure in the new media environment, and especially how to manage issues such as reporting of adverse effects, it should be obvious for everyone that the development cannot be stopped… And if we had not understood that previosuly, I think Hanna Brodda’s presentation based on her personal experiences and experiences from running the site Dinamediciner.se made it clear. Our final and most important stakeholder, i.e. the patient, have dramatically changed his/her behaviour the last years. They are out their on the social media platforms and they discuss illnesses, medicines, individual doctors, alternative treatments etc. We may not like all those things and we may disagree on several issues, but we just have to understand that it happens and we need to manage that. And yes there are several reasons to be scared of the development, but on same time there are several positive things and great opportunties with the revolution as well!

Back to work… Some objectives for 2012

Kategorier:

So, after two weeks of holiday (although I have to admit it wasn’t really a vacation - I saw my mother pass away after months of fighting…) I am now back in the office. You may recall my last blog post from 2011, where I summarized 2011 and gave a few ideas on what 2012 will be about, at least regarding CSR and environmental affairs in the pharmaceutical sector. Let me here present some of the objectives for 2012 that I, Pfizer and LIF (the association of the research based pharmaceutical industry in Sweden) have in the field:

My most important objective for the year, in my part-time role at LIF, is to deliver according to the project plan for action item 7.2 in the Swedish National Pharmaceutical Strategy (NLS):

7.2. Encourage voluntary control of emissions from pharmaceutical factories (Lead: LIF): Introduction of a voluntary environmental labeling of pharmaceutical products.

In order for LIF to be succesful in this work it is crucial that Sofia Wallström comes to a positive conclusion regarding green economic incentives in her review including action item 7.1. in the National Pharmaceutical Strategy:

7.1. Investigate if the environmental aspects should be considered when decisions on subsidy for a pharmaceutical are decided (Lead: Ministry of Health and Social Affairs): Review of possibilities to – within the context of the national reimbursement system - increasingly take environmental considerations.

Read more about the environmental action items in the National Pharmaceutical Strategy via this link. Below is my hand-written version of the project plan for item 7.2 that I update continuously as the project develops…

Project plan NLS 7.2

I know it is difficult to see the details of the project plan, but I can tell you that an additional crucial issue (in addition to positive conclusions in Sofia W’s work on NLS 7.1) is the development and finalization of green criteria for pharmaceuticals: Which pharmaceuticals are green? Below is a summary of criteria discussed in LIF’s round-table discussions during 2011:

My second most important objective for 2012 will be to develop a CSR platform for LIF, and to maintain and further develop the CSR-programs in Pfizer. When it comes to a CSR platform for LIF you will find some of parts on which I believe the platform should be based in my blog post from Oct 19, when I wrote about my part-time assignment at LIF. Regarding the CSR programs at Pfizer I recommend that you read about them on our Swedish web site and on our global web site. There are a lot of interesting projects, programs and initiatives running. It is a huge task only to maintain them, even more so to further develop them.

If you have followed me here at the blog you would probably know that one of the more interesting developments of our CSR program I strongly believe in is the “more-than-medication initiatives”. Please spend some time reviewing our Canadian colleagues’ initiative at morethanmedication.ca or our Australian colleagues’ program at morethanmedication.com.au. These kinds of initiatives are extremely important in what I refer to as Step 1, in our model called “4 steps to a sustainable use of pharmaceuticals“:

Sustainable use of pharmaceuticals

Let’s hope for a productive and successful 2012!

So, the year 2011 has soon come to an end…

Kategorier:

These days, in the end of the year, it is almost impossible to open a magazine or a newspaper without finding a list of the most important things that happened in 2011. My own list would look something like this (if I take it from a strictly professional perspective). It is worth mentioning that I have not put the “happenings” in any ranking order, these are just some things that come to my mind sitting here in front of the computer.

- The National Pharmaceutical Strategy was published and it did highlight some important issues around Pharmaceuticals and the Environment (e.g. the so called action items number 7.1 to 7.4). One very important action item in the Strategy is number 7.1: Sofia Wallström’s review on environmental considerations within the frame of the pricing and reimbursement system.

- In parallell with the work to develop the Strategy, LIF run a series of round-table discussions (and break-out work group sessions) to develop ideas around green criteria and green economic incentives. These discussions will both be important for action item number 7.1 in the Strategy (see above) and for 7.2: “Encourage voluntary control of emissions from pharmaceutical factories” (see for instance this link for more information)

- As a consequence of the discussions around the National Pharmaceutical Strategy and Sustainability, a work-group within LIF, consisting of among others members from the Environmental Committee, developed a strategy called “4 steps to a sustainable use of pharmaceuticals“.

- I started working part-time at LIF (the Swedish Association of the Research Based Pharmaceutical Industry). It is fun, interesting and challeging - exactly as I want it! I will be the project leader for action item 7.2 in the National Pharmaceutical Strategy, and also develop a CSR strategy or program for LIF.

- LIF has, in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders in the sector, planned for a campaign to be run during spring 2012 on the importance to bring back, to any pharmacy of your choice, any un-used medicines. This is regradless of where you have purchased them. More to come on this item during 2012.

- The All Party Committee on Environmental Objectives was initiated. One of the first priorities is the objective “A Non-toxic Environment”. See the blog post from the initial meeting of the work-group on Pharmaceuticals and the Environment, which is a prioritized issue in the review of the “Non-toxic Environment-objective”.

- One of the most discussed items within the field of pharmaceuticals and the environment was MPA’s report on how GMP can be amended with environmental requirements. An item that will be high on the agenda for several years to come, that’s for sure.

- When it comes to Public Procurement the most important thing that happened during 2011 was that County Councils finally started to follow-up their criteria, and company answers, on environmental and social responsibility issues. See this link for some more details.

- MistraPharma got funding for an additional 4 year period. If you would like to meet one of MistraPharma’s project managers “face-to-face” please have a look on the TEDx lecture given by Joakim Larsson on pharmaceutical substance releases from manufacturing.

- The end of the Dizza Tobak project. After three extremely fun and interesting years our collaboration with among others SAMBA and A Non Smoking Generation the project has come to an end. It will be interesting to see how we manage to build on the experiences we have gained and on the lessons we have learned when it comes to working with youth advocacy leaders and social media.

- The EU communication on CSR was published (see the communication, and also some of my comments on CSR and corporations, e.g. “an enterprise 2020 company“, and how a CSR program in a company can be communicated to colleagues). I will for sure come back to this issue several times during 2012 in my work on developing a CSR strategy/program for LIF.

- The political summit in Almedalen was as always stimulating as well as very interesting. See some of my reflections to seminars and meetings via this link.

- We saw a good participation in Earth Hour 2011, but few political achievements during the large UN Climate Conference in Durban. Cannot really say that I believe any real breakthrough to happen here during 2012…

- I received the award “Women’s Heart of the Year” (in Swedish: Årets Kvinnohjärta) from the Sollentuna Kvinnojour. I have to admit that I am very proud!

- My blogpost number 400 was written… It has become quite a few blog posts during these years… I am actually kind of proud of this as well! It presents a good opportunity for interactive communication, although I have to say that I would still welcome much more comments!

If you would like to read a summary of year 2010 and the ideas and expectations I had for 2011 roughly a year ago follow this link. As you see, some things hang around several years…

The final phase of the Dizza Tobak project…

Kategorier:

We are now in the final weeks of the Dizza Tobak project…

The project was initiated three years ago. It has been a collaboration between, among others, Pfizer Foundation, Pfizer AB, SAMBA, A Non Smoking Generation, and American Cancer Society (ACS). The project is a tobacco prevention initiative, where teenagers are creating e.g. videos to share the message that “tobacco is NOT cool” through their social media channels and through other communication channels. Their contributions have been uploaded on the Dizza Tobak web site. Have a look - there are so many good pieces there! If you want more details on the project please read any of my many blog posts on Dizza Tobak. You’ll find them in the “Dizza Tobak Category Archive“. 

Anders Lönegård, the project manager from SAMBA, is right now finalizing “Dizza Tobak - the Book” and “Dizza Tobak - the Movie” where stories, experiences, lessons learned etc will be told. I promise to come back to the topic as soon as there are more stuff to share. It has been a very successful project, and it is definitely worth sharing!

Interesting environmental discussions in several fora

Kategorier:

I have had two very exciting days, full of interesting discussions om pharmaceuticals and the environment, in three very different fora. Yesterday morning I had an internal meeting at the Pfizer office in Silverdal in Sollentuna, Sweden, where I met Pfizer colleagues working with our off-patent product portfolio. We had good discussions on green pharmaceuticals:

- What it is

- How to evaluate greenness and how to “certify” it

- And what type of business opportunities there could be with a greener product portfolio

We of course entered in to really interesting discussions on green critiera and green economic incentives. For details on these matters please read my blog posts from e.g. Oct 3, Sept 28, and Sept 23. We also tried to put the “greener product portfolio discussions” in a broader perspective of other types of “added values” we can bring to society. For more details on these ideas read the blog post from e.g. Oct 4 and Aug 23. Please also read a detailed discussion on “4 steps to a sustanable use of pharmaceuticals” in the blog post from Feb 8.

4 steps to sustainability

After the internal meeting, I met with the expert group on Pharmaceuticals and the Environment, supporting the All Party Committee on Environmental Objectives (in Swedish “Miljömålsberedningen“). You can read about our work in my blog posts from e.g. Nov 14 and  Sept 19. It is really a privilege to sit down and have very open and honest discussions with representatives from pretty much every single stakeholder in the sector. Not surprisingly we had good and long discussions on several of the ideas on actions/objectives that were originally presented by the Swedish MPA in the Dec 16, 2009 report on “increased environmental requirements on pharmaceutical manufacturing” (find some of my comments to those ideas in my blog post from Dec 17, 2009):

- Inclusion of environmental requirements in GMP

- Inclusion of Environmental Risk Assessments into the market authorization process for pharmaceuticals

- Considerations of environmental aspects in the pricing and reimbursement system, i.e. green criteria and green economic incentives

And today, the discussions on these matters and others continued when LIF’s (LIF - the Swedish Research Based Pharmaceutical Industry Association) environmental committee met at the LIF Office in Stockholm. For me it was a special meeting, since I “transferred” from chairman of the committee to “administratively responsible” for the committee. The reason of course that I nowadays work part time at the LIF Office. And I like to take the opportunity here to say thanks for all support Matilda Holst have given me during the years in her role at the LIF Office when I have been working as the chairman, and to also welcome Gisela Holm from AstraZeneca as the new chairperson of the committee.

In addition to the already mentioned items up for discussion today at the committee meeting, we also had a good presentation made by Karl Lilja from IVL, the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, on the environmental classification of pharmaceutical substances scheme at Fass.se. IVL has been the reviewer of all company submissions of environmental classifications of pharmaceutical substances since the beginning of 2005, so they have built up a significant amount of knowledge, experience and data. Read more about the Swedish classification scheme at Fass.se and on LIF’s web site.

So many interesting discussions - it is really a privilege to be working with all these people in such an interesting field! I am really looking forward to 2012! Discussions will be more intense, and more interesting, than ever!