Teresa Alves

Class of:

—

Current affiliation:

La Revue Prescrire

Contact:

t.leonardoalves@uu.nl

Motivation:

• “We shall not cease from exploration
• And the end of all our exploring
• Will be to arrive where we started
• And know the place for the first time.”

TS Eliot

Education and experience:

Teresa Alves has more than 14 years of experience in the coordination and management of not-for-profit organizations working in the area of medicines’ policy; as well as a Masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Porto University (Portugal) and a Master’s in Public Health from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

Her career placements have always been connected to pharmacy and public health, and as a result, she became particularly interested in topics related to equitable access to essential medicines, medicines safety and rational use.

She has worked at the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and at Health Action International. She has developed invaluable knowledge of key stakeholders in international pharmaceutical policy. This has required expertise in identifying and maintaining contacts with NGO networks, policy-makers and regulatory agencies.

Teresa is currently working as International Policy Adviser for Prescrire, an independent drug bulletin based in France, while reading for her PhD at Utrecht University.

Title PhD project:

Medicines Information for Patients and Consumers.

PhD project description:

Medicines are powerful agents and the most common intervention in health systems. They can treat acute illnesses and chronic conditions, relieve symptoms, and prevent future ill health. New information routes that bypass the traditional healthcare professional-patient relationship are now available to (and used by) patients. However, the quality and veracity of the information being retrieved raises concerns, due to its unregulated nature. The danger of misinformation exists and not all the information available to, or accessed by patients and consumers can be of assistance in making an informed decision.

The aim of our research is to address pressing challenges in the provision of prescription medicines’ information to the public and to contribute with innovative solutions and recommendations for some of the current difficulties.  The common thread is the patient, in a series of studies that will focus on:

-Grey areas in pharmaceutical promotion and their regulatory responses;

-Patients’ interaction and representation at regulatory agencies;

-Unbranded advertising of prescription medicines and associated disease diagnoses and their effects on consumer attitudes, knowledge, health service use, costs and health outcomes;

-Compliance of disease awareness campaigns in printed Dutch media with national and international regulatory guidelines;

-Perceptions of potential benefits and harmful effects among users after reports of safety problems.

Team members and other people involved:

Prof. Dr. Bert Leufkens, Prof. Dr. Aukje Mantel-Teeuwisse, Barbara Mintzes