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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 12 NEWS IN FOCUS PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT, E-MAS MEDICINE ADVERTISING SERVICE Marcela Araneda talks to a pharmacist who sold up and launched a consultancy guiding the industry through the promotion of health products and services. Emi, tell us a little bit about your professional background and how you came to be the principal consultant of your company. Deep down, we all have something that drives us. The corporate world call it a ‘mission statement’, and even though I’ve been involved with pharmacy for, wow, almost 30 years now, I’ve stayed true to mine. Starting out at university all those years ago, I wanted to support patients to improve their health outcomes – empower people with knowledge so they could take on their own self-care. I’ve worked as a pharmacist in retail, hospital and industry settings from top to bottom of Australia, and overseas as well. After deciding to sell my Sydney pharmacies I explored ways to support community health from a different angle. I worked with the Therapeutic Goods Administration advertising compliance unit as the TGA’s delegated advertising services manager, managing and conducting all the mandatory pre-approval of therapeutic goods advertising. This involved interpreting clinical information and relating it back to consumer health advertising. Essentially comparing the facts available with the message that was coming through in an advertisement. I discovered there was a real need among advertisers and sponsor companies for support in ensuring their ‘amazing advertising’ complied with all the rules, so established my consultancy business offering advice and guidance on all aspects of health product and service promotion. For those readers unfamiliar with what you do, can you tell us about the services you provide? As pharmacists and representing pharmacies, there’s a whole set of extra rules with which our advertising must comply, and while this may seem unreasonable or unfair, it’s actually not. We’re offering products and services that have a direct impact on someone’s life, or the life of their loved ones. While a fancy TV or new coffee machine can occasionally feel life-changing, having quality medicines available when they’re needed, an accurate blood glucose monitor or vaccinations – these will keep you out of hospital and alive. So, it’s not surprising that promotion of medicines or services in an inappropriate or unethical way is prohibited, and that the penalties and repercussions for this type of conduct are serious. E-MAS Medicine Advertising Service provides specialist advice for advertisers, marketers, product sponsors and individuals on all aspects of consumer healthcare and product advertising. It’s health and medical advertising advice, especially around the rules and how to ensure promotions are effective and compliant. TGA mandatory pre-approvals of consumer advertising for therapeutic goods came to an end on June 30. Can you explain to our readers what this means? No doubt ending mandatory advertising pre-approvals won’t mean much to some readers, but for others it could be a big deal. Some advertisers had begun to rely on this mandatory pre-vetting for a second opinion or as a final check to ensure an ad or campaign met the necessary TGA standards. The system had its flaws, and now we’ll be operating in a self-regulated system. Companies and businesses that create and place ads have always had a legal responsibility to ensure their ads comply with all the rules (otherwise, they risk fines and sanctions, and most likely reputational damage) – nothing has changed in this regard. The mandated external check with associated time delays and fees is no longer essential, with the onus now switching to the advertiser to be aware of the rules and create compliant content ... and seek appropriate guidance if necessary. You mentioned that from this month (July) companies that create and/or place advertising will still have the legal responsibility to ensure their ads are compliant, without the benefit a compliance safety net such the TGA mandatory pre-approvals. What advice can you give people wanting to make sure they’re ticking all the boxes and are in fact compliant? That’s right, and this hasn’t changed. Companies, businesses, individuals, retail groups – anyone who advertises – has a responsibility to ensure their content complies with all relevant laws. The pre-approvals that are being stopped relate to advertising products. In pharmacy, though, we’re not just talking about the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code \\\[TGAC\\\]. Retail pharmacists and pharmacies need to think of Consumer Law and the ACC \\\[Australian Crime Commission\\\], and the AHPRA \\\[Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency\\\] National Law, as well as copyright and trademark laws. How to be sure you’re ticking all the boxes? That’s a hard one ... Start by knowing there are rules and regulations particular to your industry and educate yourself or outsource. The TGA has an advertising hub with fact sheets, tools, guidance documents and so on, Guild members can access online RETAIL PHARMACY • JUL 2020 Emi Gosling