GA Resolution: International Drug Education

[Ananke II]

This is the discussion thread. Please go here to cast your vote.

International Drug Education
A resolution to promote funding and the development of education and the arts.

Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Educational
Proposed by: Mousebumples


Description: UNDERSTANDING that safety and efficacy are important standards with regards to drug therapy.

ACKNOWLEDGING that a drug may cause varying benefits and side effects in different species.

DESIRING to more fully understand the inherent benefits and harms with regards to taking drugs.

CREATES the International Drug Education Agency (IDEA) as a sub-committee of the World Assembly Food and Drug Regulatory Agency (WAFADRA).

SPECIFIES that IDEA will collect drug-related research data regarding medical and recreational drug use.

STIPULATES that drug information regarding drug procurement and/or creation will not be gathered by IDEA, unless granted by the holder of the intellectual property rights for said information.

ESTABLISHES the Database Of Clinical Treatments Under Study (DOCTUS) as a drug education branch of the Universal Library Coalition (ULC);
1. IDEA will archive all research data within DOCTUS;
(a) Data from completed but unpublished studies will be included in the archive.
(b) No identifying patient information will be included in the archive.
2. Said data will be made available to, at minimum, all medical professionals within WA nations; individual nations may provide this information to others within their own borders as they deem appropriate.
3. All research data within DOCTUS will be accompanied by a link to the relevant journal article(s), if the research has been published;
(a) IDEA will provide appropriate monetary reimbursement to journals that are not currently archived in the ULC so that their research can be accessed through DOCTUS by credentialed individuals.
(b) If a journal and/or individual article is not available through DOCTUS or the ULC, appropriate citations will be listed.
4. Non-WA nations may apply for access to DOCTUS; a nominal fee may charged by the IDEA for access.

DETAILS that IDEA medical professionals will publish quarterly IDEA newsletters;
1. The newsletters will be written by health care professionals and will detail the most significant discoveries in drug therapy, such as new indications for an already discovered drug, new concerns regarding side effects for an established drug, new recommendations for use in certain populations, etc.
(a) Any recommendations issued by IDEA professionals regarding changes to currently established medication therapy standards will be non-binding.
(b) Scientists will be encouraged to pursue further research regarding published information to ensure that the most effective and appropriate recommendations are in place.
2. The IDEA Quarterly will be provided to all interested nations free of charge and will be archived within DOCTUS with the appropriate reference citations.

RECOMMENDS that Health Research & Development Division of the WHA accept applications for funding from WA member nations for further research regarding already discovered medication therapies to better understand their safety and efficacy with long-term use;
1. Applications for funding must include details of how the study would be conducted and what drug(s) would be studied.
2. Funded studies must receive the informed consent of all participants in the study.
3. Studies are strongly encouraged to have a control group of some nature.

[ImperialPoland]

for

[Kanaia]

TENTATIVELY FOR

"SPECIFIES that IDEA will collect drug-related research data regarding medical and recreational drug use"

I don't believe we need to waste money on research of recreational drugs.

Furthermore, this is not really education, it is research, so I don't understand the name.

However, this looks to be a good resolution which could be helpful to the world.

[Kranusilika]

I think the research of Recreational Drugs are just as beneficial. There could be medical uses/advantages that are identified.

My concern is this statement - "STIPULATES that drug information regarding drug procurement and/or creation will not be gathered by IDEA, unless granted by the holder of the intellectual property rights for said information."
This leads me to beleive that the IDEA can obtain the drugs from your local supplier or user. This is of course a bad thing for many reasons. I beleive the bill fails to cover a very important aspect...where will they acquire the drugs? Make, buy? If they are buying, do they fall under the normal laws (if any) against purchusing drugs on the streets? If they are exept, then what protections will be in place to ensure the buyer does not utilize this special privilage for monetary gain?

[Ananke II]

I forgot to say that you're all welcome to telegram Mousebumples with any concerns or questions you might have. He'll probably drop by here one of the next days too to answer, so posting here is fine as well.

[Markanite]

^^awesome can't wait to hear his thoughts on this

Im for this atm

[Takaram]

I'll go with FOR, but this is subject to change.

[Walabamba]

As with Kanaia, a tentative FOR.

[Echolilia]

Taxes, bureaucracy, government-maintained databases, what's not to love?

[Mousebumples]

Hey, everyone! I'm Mousebumples (and I'm a she, for whatever that's worth), and many thanks to Ananke for inviting me here to discuss my proposal with you guys!

I'm not super familiar with Proboards, so please excuse any errors/coding flubs I might make. Anyhow, post by post, here's my best response to your questions and concerns:

Jul 7, 2010 12:17:05 GMT -5 Kanaia said:

I don't believe we need to waste money on research of recreational drugs.

The main reason recreational drugs were included in the proposal text was, as someone else here has stated, because there may be a beneficial medical use to some recreational drugs. (In RL, think "medical marijuana") This proposal is in no way trying to legalize recreational drugs; however, I wanted everyone to have the most drug information access so that they could make decisions that were in their own country's/citizens' best interests.

Jul 7, 2010 12:17:05 GMT -5 Kanaia said:

Furthermore, this is not really education, it is research, so I don't understand the name.

The proposal compiles research, yes. However, the compiliation of that research under DOCTUS is geared at allowing (at minimum) all medical professionals within a nation to be better educated on the optimal use of drugs and to better understand what side effects their patient population may encounter. More data is almost always better than more limited data. And while studies conducted in my nation of Mousebumples may not feature a patient population that directly correlates with whatever might be found in your nation, hopefully the added information can allow your medical professionals to make better health care decisions for their patients.

Jul 7, 2010 13:18:36 GMT -5 Kranusilika said:

My concern is this statement - "STIPULATES that drug information regarding drug procurement and/or creation will not be gathered by IDEA, unless granted by the holder of the intellectual property rights for said information."
This leads me to beleive that the IDEA can obtain the drugs from your local supplier or user. This is of course a bad thing for many reasons. I beleive the bill fails to cover a very important aspect...where will they acquire the drugs? Make, buy? If they are buying, do they fall under the normal laws (if any) against purchusing drugs on the streets? If they are exept, then what protections will be in place to ensure the buyer does not utilize this special privilage for monetary gain?

Emphasis mine.

Some concerns were raised in the drafting thread that intellectual property rights regarding the production/manufacturing of drugs could be archived within DOCTUS as that information is "drug related." For example, if someone in your nation has the drug SleepEze patented, information about how you make SleepEze (how you create or obtain the active ingredient, how you produce the handy inhaler with which SleepEze is administered, etc.) may allow other nations to replicate SleepEze without having to pay your nation for the product. That clause is merely intended to be an intellectual privacy clause. No drug distribution (or collection) will be acheived by the passage of this proposal.

I think that answers most of your questions and concerns. I'll try to pop in from time to time over the next few days to see if any more crop up. Of course, you guys are more than welcome to send me a TG or (if you're feeling a bit more adventurous) trek on over to the official NS forums. The official topic thread can be found here.

Thanks so much to you guys for your support. I really appreciate it. And, once more, thanks to Ananke for inviting me to join you guys here!

[Wordy]

Thanks mousebumples, we appreciate your taking the time to come and post here very much.

[Mousebumples]

Jul 8, 2010 16:05:41 GMT -5 Wordy said:

Thanks mousebumples, we appreciate your taking the time to come and post here very much.

No problem! I'm just happy to be invited - and you guys have given me quite the warm reception.

[Pizmo Beach]

This is yet another example of the WA trying to get involved in areas where it should have NO authority.

Drug research is the province of science, and the regulation of that research is up to the discretion of individual nations. If scientists choose to collaborate with scientists from other nations, that is fine, as long as it does not violate any laws of the sovereign nations involved.

Collaboration on scientific matters can occur without any intervention by the WA. This resolution is uneccessary.

[Mousebumples]

Jul 10, 2010 15:17:36 GMT -5 Pizmo Beach said:

This is yet another example of the WA trying to get involved in areas where it should have NO authority.

Drug research is the province of science, and the regulation of that research is up to the discretion of individual nations. If scientists choose to collaborate with scientists from other nations, that is fine, as long as it does not violate any laws of the sovereign nations involved.

Collaboration on scientific matters can occur without any intervention by the WA. This resolution is uneccessary.

This proposal is not about scientific collaboration, and the proposal does not in any way regulate research. (It does provide for additional funding for research, however.)

Rather, it stipulates that results from research that is already being done should be shared among WA member nations. If your nation wishes to further investigate a drug that has already been studied by another nation, that's more than fine. More data is correlated with a better understanding of the product being studied. However, if your nation already has data regarding a given drug, you may instead elect to spend that funding on studying a different drug - or you may spend the money on something else entirely! This proposal does not attempt to stipulate how research is done (unless you are applying for funding from WAFDRA), but rather spread the effects of already completed research on an international level.

[Echolilia]

"International Drug Education" was passed 4,449 votes to 940.

[Mousebumples]

Thanks again for your support, 10000 Islands! I greatly appreciate it - and your willingness to welcome me to your board to talk about the subject.

[Echolilia]

Come again!