Conference Matters 142

with regard to both advertising for PO-medici nes and hospitality. If the initiator engages an external conference organisation to organise the event, it is important that clear agreements are made about the responsibilities between these parties. Pharmaceutical companies that are represen ted at an event with a stand have the primary responsibility to ensure that non-healthcare professionals are not exposed to advertising for PO-medicines. The hospitality offered by the company from the stand directly, such as meals and drinks, will, moreover, have to remain limited to what is ‘strictly necessary’ for participating in the event. A pharmaceutical company will likely require information in advance about the programme of the event, the speakers, the budget, etc. in order to check in advance whether its sponso ring satisfies the legal requirements. It will also request a final settlement after the event has been held. For more information on this topic, we refer you to the website of the CGR, www.cgr.nl Under the following circumstances, we speak of large-scale international conferences: • The event primarily targets healthcare professionals; • Large groups of speakers and participants from countries other than the Netherlands are attending the conference; • Participation is open only to healthcare professionals and other healthcare providers (professional representatives of patient organisations are deemed to belong to the latter group), but not to non-professional target groups, such as patients; • The majority of the participants are healthcare professionals (and so are authorised to prescribe or supply prescription-only medicinal products).

tional and social activities themselves. Detailed budgeting and transparent reporting are impe rative to monitor compliance and ensure ethical conduct. Healthcare Transparency Register The Dutch Healthcare Transparency Register serves as a vital tool for disclosing financial rela tionships between pharmaceutical companies, healthcare professionals, and patient organiza tions. Financial transactions exceeding a spe cified threshold trigger mandatory reporting, fostering transparency and accountability within the healthcare sector. Additionally, healthcare professionals that contribute to an event as a speaker need to disclose their ties with pharma ceutical companies to their public. Responsibilities and Enforcement Event organizers bear the primary responsibility for ensuring compliance with advertising regula tions. This means that the pharmaceutical com panies must be informed about the participating target groups and that organisational measures must be taken for non-healthcare professionals,

promotional claims made during this conference will be deemed to be directed at non-healthcare professionals, resulting in a violation of the ban on pharmaceutical advertising to the public. In these circumstances conference organisers must take additional measures to prevent expo sing non-healthcare professionals to advertising for PO-medicines. Event sponsoring guidelines Pharmaceutical industry sponsorship of events must adhere to strict guidelines regarding pro gram content, venue selection, and financial contributions in order to avoid unduly influen cing healthcare professionals. The focus should remain on scientific content, with a suitable venue (not too luxurious) and hospitality costs kept within reasonable bounds (participant’s travel expenses, meals, accommodation costs and registration fees). The speakers’ fees must be reasonable in relation to the services they provide: the CGR sets maximum hourly rates for healthcare professionals based on their educati onal background. Healthcare professionals need to pay for recrea

15