Pharmaceuticals Working Group

Plans for 2008
 
Chair: Maggie Huff-Rousselle
Vice-Chair: Annette DeMattos

Objectives for 2008
The APHA pharmaceuticals interest/working (Rx I/W) group has moved beyond the boundaries of International Health (IH), and it is now impossible to say who in the group is or now an IH section member and how many have signed up from other APHA sections.  We added over 40 people to Rx I/W list from a single APHA session in 2007, which brings the total membership of the list to between 150 and 200.  The traffic on the list is still reasonably light, which makes it manageable for all, but it has gradually been picking up.  As is typical, most Rx I/W members are passive and only a few are actively engaged in discussions.  Articles and news stories are forwarded to the entire list, and more and more of these are coming from the Rx W/I membership for general circulation.  We circulated a list of all the APHA sessions that had something to do with pharmaceuticals to the Rx W/I group list before the last conference, and will do the same this year.  Members will also be reminded of the impending deadline for abstract submissions.

There is also discussion among some members of the possibility of publishing something on pharmaceuticals that comes out of the Rx I/W group.  However, our current primary purpose is to exchange and discuss information, keeping members informed of new developments and on-going areas of interest.