APACMed recognises that collaborative interactions between Members and HCOs and HCPs must meet the highest ethical standards, preserve HCPs’ independent decision-making, and reinforce public confidence in the integrity of patient care, treatment, and product and service selection.
The Code has been under regular review since the first version came into force on 1 January 2016.
- In February 2017, the APACMed Board revised the Code to no longer permit Members’ direct sponsorship of individual HCPs to Third Party Educational Events as of 1 January 2018, and the Code was amended accordingly.
- In light of amendments to the AdvaMed Code, the MedTech Europe Code, and other codes of ethics that apply to many Members both within Asia Pacific and globally, the APACMed’s Legal/Ethics & Compliance Committee formed a Code Revision Subcommittee in 2019, which resulted in a revised Code being adopted by the APACMed Board and made effective the 1st of July 2020; the updated Code included further clarification around Satellite Symposia (Section 3.8), and three new provisions concerning Member support of Third Party Procedure Training (Section 4.4); technical support in the clinical setting (Section 10), and Third party sales and marketing intermediaries (SMIs) (Section 11).
- In February 2022, the Legal, Ethics and Compliance Committee formed another Code Revision Subcommittee, which was tasked to review the current Code, especially its regulations on providing gifts and branded items to HCPs, an area which needed to be revised in order to comply with the Modernised KL Principles (published by APEC early 2022). The recommendations of the Revision Subcommittee were proposed to and accepted by the Board in April 2023, and will be effective 1st Jan 2024 in order to provide Members sufficient to adapt and change internal policies and procedures.
The Legal, Ethics and Compliance Committee will continue to monitor global trends in HCP codes of ethics globally and be responsive to developments in the industry and particularly in Asia Pacific.
This Guidance is intended to assist Members in ensuring that these virtual interactions comply with the letter and spirit of the APACMed Code of Ethical Conduct, with due consideration for other local codes and regulations. This Guidance does not change the Code or the Code’s FAQs. Members are expected to apply the Code to their respective dealings and interactions with HCPs and HCOs. The Guidance does, however, highlight issues that Members should consider in applying the Code to these virtual activities.
