Fundation "Institut Català de Farmacologia"

The Foundation

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Aims
	Its constituent objective is to promote, by means of assisting the common interest, rational drug prescription and the effective and efficient use of therapeutic resources. To this aim, the main objectives of the FICF are: To promote an optimal use of drugs both in hospitals and primary health care by developing activities in the fields of drug selection, drug information, training, research, and contributing to the tasks of institutional committees. To develop pregraduate and postgraduate teaching and training in therapeutics. To prepare and publish information about drugs and therapeutics and on the use of drugs in the health system. To promote experimental, clinical, epidemiological, public health and educational studies on pharmacology, therapeutics and toxicology. To cooperate with national and international organizations with similar objectives.
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Areas
	FICF’s activity aimed at developing these objectives is carried out in different areas: The university hospital Vall d’Hebron. Several primary health care centres dependent on the Institut Català de la Salut. The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Collaboration with Spanish and European regulatory authorities. DURG-LA network.
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Activities
	The main activities of FICF are structured in three fields: *Service* The Foundation's activities on drugs information and therapeutics include: The Índex Farmacològic, a primary health care oriented therapeutic guide, whose 5^th edition will come out in 2000; it has been the basis of similar versions in several countries. Butlletí Groc, a bimonthly bulletin of information on drug safety. Editing of guidelines for prophylactic and treatment in hospital settings. Therapeutic Consultation Service. Telephone number: (34) 93 428 30 29. Development of an electronic drug information system in Spanish (SIETES: Sistema de Información Esencial en Terapéutica y Salud). Other services are drug selection in hospitals, pharmacovigilance, collaboration with regulatory authorities in establishing drug policies, and the participation in ethical committees of clinical research. *Training* Pregraduate training is based on the concepts stated in the WHO Programme on Essential Drugs' Guide to Good Prescribing, whose Spanish version was published by this organization and the FICF with the aim of promoting the adoption of this training method in Spanish and Latin American universities. Postgraduate training includes a Master Course in Pharmacoepidemiology (biennial since 1991), as well as some courses of the Doctorate on Pharmacology of the UAB and other centres. The Clinical Pharmacology Service of Hospitals Vall d’Hebron is accredited by the National Commission on Clinical Pharmacology for postgraduate training of specialists in clinical pharmacology. Several continuous education activities are also carried out, such as a School of Continuous Education for primary health care professionals. FICF is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Pharmacoepidemiology. *Research* Research activities mainly focus on pharmacoepidemiology. In addition to the voluntary reporting scheme (yellow card) and in-hospital pharmacovigilance, FICF designs, coordinates and participates in several multicentre studies, with different observational epidemiological methods on the relationship between specific diseases and the use of drugs. Multicentric drug utilization studies are also carried out. Occasionally, pharmacokinetic studies on bioequivalence, clinical trials and meta-analyses are also carried out.
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Board of trustees
	The President of the FICF’s Board of Trustees is Professor JA Salvà Miquel. Its members are: Representatives of local health authorities: - Departament de Sanitat de la Generalitat de Catalunya - Institut Català de la Salut The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona International experts: - from the WHO - from the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri (Milán) Enric Argelagués, Manager Director of Health Catalan Institut David Elvira, Manager Director of Sanitary Resources, Department of Health José Luis de Sancho, Manager Director, University Hospital Complex Vall d'Hebron Miquel Vilardell, representative of Chancellor, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona David García-Dorado, Director of Research Institut (University Hospital Complex Vall d'Hebron) Concepció Violan, Primary Care Research Institute Jordi Gol Dra. Concepció Violan, Institut d'Investigació en Atenció Primària Jordi Gol Gianni Tognoni, Director of Instituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milán Valerio Reggi, Medicine department, World Health Organization, Geneva Miguel Márquez, ex-representant Panamerican Health Organization, Cuba Joan-Ramon Laporte, Foundation ICF Josep Maria Arnau, Clinical Pharmacology Service University Hospital Complex Bellvitge Dolors Capellà, Pharmacology Area, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Eduard Diogène, Foundation FICF Albert Ribas, secretary
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Collaboration agreements
	FICF has reached agreements and collaboration contracts with: Departament de Sanitat de la Generalitat de Catalunya Institut Català de la Salut Servei Català de la Salut Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Agència d’Avaluació de Tecnologies Mèdiques Acadèmia de Ciències Mèdiques de Catalunya i de Balears Societat Catalana de Medicina Familiar i Comunitària Agencia Española del Medicamento World Health Organization (WHO) World Bank United Nations Program for Development (UNPD) Cuban Ministry of Health Universidad Nacional de Colombia Dirección de Investigación Clínica del Instituto Mexicano de Seguridad Social several pharmaceutical firms and other health care and research institutions
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Pg. Vall d’Hebron, 119 - 129
08035 – Barcelona
Tel: (34) 93 428 30 29 / (34) 93 428 31 76
Fax: (34) 93 489 41 09
E-mail: ficf@icf.uab.es