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Professional Ethics:
19 Feb 2013 13:39:02
Ethics and Professionalism: way forward for SL pharmaceutical industry - Virender Lamba


Feb 19, 2013 (SLBO) - Adherence to ethics and professionalism is definitely the way forward for Sri Lanka's Pharmaceutical Industry, Virender Lamba, Director Compliance (Nepal and Sri Lanka) of Sanofi India said addressing a workshop on ethics and good practices in Pharmaceutical marketing.

The workshop was organized by the Sri Lanka Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry (SLCPI) at the Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo.

"Society demands accountability and transparency from pharmaceutical marketers. Therefore those who are involved in the business should understand the nobility of the profession. We are in the business of alleviating pain. Hence we have a serious responsibility towards society," he said.

In the US and the UK, he pointed out, there are stringent measures in place to regulate pharmaceutical sales and marketing professionals. In that system, companies are responsible for the conduct of their business associates. Also, failure by a business organization to prevent bribery and corruption is considered a corporate offence, he explained. Some promote 'Whistle Blowing' (anonymous complaints) as a way of promoting ethics and good practices in pharmaceutical marketing. "Such measures have been taken, to restore credibility in the industry," he stated. He also commended various initiatives by the SLCPI to educate stakeholders of the industry on ethics, integrity and good practices.

"Now we need to re-look at our approach, strategies, reward structures with a view of promoting ethics," he noted.

When companies, according to him, tend to focus on single targets they tend to compromise on ethics. Companies, he said, should have a two-way approach to achieve targets while adhering to ethics. "Companies focus so much on single targets that their members are ignorant of ethics and unaware of the consequences of unethical behaviour."

During his demonstration, Lamba also elaborated on the "Thin Line" between inducement and influence.
"We should educate our associates, especially the ones who are dealing with government officials, on this. It is an undeniable fact that the industry needs the support of medical practitioners. But how you get the support is also important. For instance, it is important that we need to focus more on patient education. But what is happening between doctors and patients is none of our business.Likewise, we need to know what our restrictions are"

He also highlighted that companies with high integrity scores have reaped better results than companies with low integrity scores, as far as the Total Shareholder Return ( TSR ) is concerned. A properly maintained compliance programme, he said, can always reduce costs of damages, settlements, penalties, unwanted legal fees etc. He also suggested to form groups on industry compliance and best practices.

"Compliance is not the 10th thing in your to-do-list. It is the way you do the first nine," he remarked.

"Compliance is not necessarily an administrative effort. It should be a permanent mindset. It needs support and examples from the top management" he added while stressing the need of creating a positive image of the pharmaceutical industry.

"If we don't change, the society will put pressure on us. There will be new laws which will force us to change. It is our responsibility to understand the value of our job and nobility of our profession."

Mahanama Dodampegama, Ex-President of the SLCPI highlighted the need of organizing forums targeting the middle level of the industry. "We have CEO forums and comprehensive dialogues targeting the top level. But it is important to have forums of this nature targeting the operational level of the industry. That makes our endeavours more meaningful," he added.

"The majority of the stakeholders of this industry exercise ethical practices and protect integrity. Only a handful of people violate them. But unfortunately, their conduct tarnishes the image of this noble industry."

Award winning brand and national marketer Rohantha Athukorala - The Head of National Portfolio Development (Sri Lanka & Maldives) for United Nations( UNOPS) shared the key developments in Sri Lanka for 2013 and the Ethical guidelines for the Pharmaceutical industry. He said being ethical is not a choice about one's organization, but a choice about his or her conscience and career. If your career is marred by unethical practice, he said, no one is going to recruit you again; it is as simple as that.

On the part of pharmaceutical companies, he added, they should be lean (low cost), mean (re-align) and clean ( ethical) in order to achieve success.

He pointed out that companies should have a fresh approach in terms of sales and marketing as a way of promoting ethical practices.

"Do your maths and analyze the numbers. Analyze your consumers and their consumption. Know where you are where you want to be. See whether your numbers are realistic and set goals. If you are pursuing unrealistic goals, you will never be able to play the game based on values and ethics", he said.

The audience included pharmaceutical marketing professionals, traders and other stakeholders of the industry. All the participants of the workshop received a certificate from the SLCPI. A raffle draw was also conducted to add an element of entertainment to the event, where the first prize was a return ticket to Paris.