Interlaken
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Discours prononcé en anglais. Texte original, non traduit.
Distinguished Heads of Medicines Regulatory Agencies,
Vice-Minister Sun Xianze,
President of the Council of Swissmedic
Director
Ladies and gentlemen
200 years ago, the English poet Lord Byron visited Interlaken.
He was fascinated by the glaciers. He found a beautiful way to describe them: he called them « Frozen Hurricanes. »
He described the Bernese Oberland as being famous for:
« It’s cheeses, it’s liberty, and it’s complete lack of taxes »…
The same Byron once wrote:
« Always laugh when you can, it’s great medicine and it’s cheap. »
And for all the diseases which laughter can’t cure, we have YOU, who can distinguish between great and poor medicine.
It is a pleasure for me to welcome you to Switzerland and to this Summit.
This event brings together the leaders in this field from more than 20 countries, representing around 50% of the world’s population, and the majority of the world’s medicinal manufacturers.
Ladies and gentlemen
When people have to take medicine, they want to know that it is effective and that it is safe.
People need to be able to trust medical products and devices.
This is simple but not trivial.
When it comes to medicine, trust is crucial.
Trust is your currency.
You are trustworthy
Because your supervision is reliable and transparent.
Because you are competent and rigorous.
Because you work for the greater good.
Trust is not only important for those who take medicines, but also for those who produce them. Medicine producers need to know that you will be fair in your analysis.
A strong industry needs a strong regulator.
And finally, trust is vital between you, the world’s regulatory agencies. Each of you needs to know that you can rely on the tests and procedures of your counterparts around the globe.
Collaboration is key. Without collaboration, we lose time and knowledge. Collaboration helps us
to keep pace with the development of new products
and to deal with the growing complexity in authorization and supervision.
You have all made the journey to this summit
to create trust
to strengthen cooperation between your organisations,
and to make a vital contribution to the safety and health of our populations through your commitment and work.
You have a vital role in protecting health and increasing safety by ensuring medicinal products are effective, safe to use, and of good quality.
Ladies and gentlemen
Globalisation of the public health sector requires increasing coordination between health, foreign, economic and development policies.
And globalisation entails greater responsibility for global health.
As a prosperous country, Switzerland has a duty to help other countries in their development.
10 years ago, Switzerland designed a foreign health policy.
It builds on our strengths:
Switzerland has one of the best health systems,
outstanding global health research centres,
a strong, innovative pharmaceutical and medtech industry,
and a long humanitarian tradition.
The policy allows us to respond to the increasing complexity and challenges of global health.
Among the twenty goals of this policy, two are the most relevant to the work of medicine regulators.
The first goal emphasizes the importance of establishing general conditions to further global health research.
The second goal focuses on improving access to essential and newly-developed, high-grade, affordable medicines and medical devices.
The policy enables us to focus on development cooperation.
For example:
Two years ago, Swissmedic signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This will help us improve access to medical treatment and products by improving regulatory systems. Together with the World Health Organization, we are supporting the countries of the East African Community in their efforts to issue sales licenses rapidly and professionally.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The world is growing more complex. International cooperation is now more important than ever if we are to create trust
in the safety and effectivity of medicines
and in the processes of authorisation and control
We need an open dialogue and easy exchange of information.
I wish you a successful and inspiring summit here in Switzerland.
Thank you.