“We are feeling increasing political pressure in Europe [regarding] the sponsorship of delegates at medical meetings and we are expecting that the system will change dramatically in the future. So we all have to be prepared for the worst.”

That was the warning from Anna Frick, conference and exhibition team director, global marketing, AstraZeneca, Mölndal, Sweden; and president, International Pharmaceutical Congress Advisory Association, Basel, Switzerland. (In Europe, unlike the U.S., it's typical for pharmaceutical companies to pay for physicians to attend educational conferences.) Frick participated in a panel discussion with representatives of medical associations and professional congress organizers about the future of pharma funding at international medical meetings at the International Congress and Convention Association in Victoria, British Columbia, in early November.

Frick and the panelists discussed how stricter codes regarding industry's interactions with healthcare professionals and stricter guidelines for continuing medical education have spread far beyond the U.S., affecting the attendance and scope of international medical congresses in the near and long term.

Look for an in-depth report in MM's January/February issue.

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