Demonstrating its commitment to more openness and accountability with its stakeholders, Pfizer launched a new communication initiative last month – a Medicine Safety Web site. The interactive site is designed to help patients, caregivers, health care providers and public health professionals better understand how the risks and benefits of medicines are determined, monitored and communicated.

Pfizer is the first pharmaceutical company to offer this degree of depth and breadth of detail about the role of safety in the drug discovery and development process, and how risks and benefits of medicines are continuously assessed for as long as they are prescribed.

In developing plans for the new Web site, www.pfizer.com/medicinesafety, Pfizer leaders saw a clear need for this type of educational resource.

"Medicine safety information is more important than ever because of our aging population and the resulting increase in medicine use," said Chief Medical Officer Joseph Feczko. "Yet surveys of practicing physicians, health policy experts and the general public have revealed a lack of understanding of fundamental safety science, processes and terminology."

"Currently, information about medicines is available through numerous but fragmented channels, which can be challenging for health care professionals and patients as they discuss risks and benefits of various treatments,” explained Gretchen Dieck, Senior Vice President, Safety and Risk Management. “As an industry leader, we are using our collective experience and knowledge to address an unmet public health concern."

The Medicine Safety site delineates the roles of the pharmaceutical companies that develop and produce medicines, the regulatory agencies that approve their use, and the doctors and other health care providers who prescribe them.

Video hosts lead site visitors through four primary sections: "Understanding Risk," "Medicine Safety Timeline," "Partnering to Protect Patients" and "Taking Medicines Safely." Users "roll over" graphics and images that reveal information, videos, and interactive quizzes and hypothetical scenarios.

"In providing accessible, user-friendly tools and accurate information, the Medicine Safety Web site encourages patients to assume proactive roles in their own health care decisions, which can lead to optimal health outcomes," said Dieck.

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