TMCnet News
AdvaMed Applauds APEC's Call for Collective Action on Ethical Business Practices in Asia-Pacific Region(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NANJING, China, Sept. 18 -- The Advanced Medical Technology Association issued the following news release: Christopher L. White, senior executive vice president and general counsel for the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), today issued the following statement in response to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum's call for collective action on ethical business practices in the Asia-Pacific region: "AdvaMed commends the call from APEC's Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) ministers to double the number of codes of ethics in the region for the medical device and biopharmaceutical sectors by 2015. "We applaud APEC's continued commitment to fostering ethical environments in our industry, which now includes the launch by SME ministers of a new APEC business ethics web portal, designed to educate companies on compliance best practices and improve capacity to implement high-standard codes of ethics. This effort will help address global ethics compliance issues confronting our industry while advancing policies consistent with AdvaMed's Code of Ethics. "SME ministers released the 'Nanjing Declaration to Promote Ethical Business Environments in the Medical Device and Biopharmaceutical Sectors (2014-2020)' earlier this month at the 21st APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting in Nanjing. The declaration resulted from the meeting's first-ever APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum, which included participation of 200 attendees from 80 organizations across 20 APEC economies, aimed at promoting ethical environments in the device and biopharmaceutical sectors. "Recognizing that ethical environments cannot be achieved by one group alone, the forum brought together leaders from industry, government, health care professionals organizations, patient groups and others to agree on a roadmap to achieve regional alignment in voluntary codes of ethical business practices. Such codes benefit APEC economies by providing a platform for effective industry self-regulation. They benefit businesses, especially resource-constrained SMEs, by providing clarity and harmonization in rules and practices as well as allowing firms to compete across the region at reduced cost. "The Nanjing declaration expresses the medtech industry's shared objective, alongside governments, health care professionals and patients, that we work together to bring about a more ethical business environment where medical decision making is in patients' best interests. We are pleased to support this public-private partnership and look forward to continuing our work with APEC members to aid adoption of high-standard codes of ethics. "I would also like to congratulate Dato' Hafsah Hashim, CEO of Malaysia's SME agency SME Corp., for receiving the inaugural 'APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Lighthouse Award' during the meeting. The award recognizes an individual or organization that has served as a bright and steady light to strengthen the ethical business environment in the APEC region. "Dato' Hafsah is a true leader and agent of change, having not only co-chaired the development of the Kuala Lumpur Principles - the first set of sector-specific APEC principles for codes of ethics - but relentlessly pursued implementation through large-scale ethics training and public-private partnerships." [Category: Medical] TNS 24HariCha-140919-30FurigayJane-4866062 30FurigayJane (c) 2014 Targeted News Service |