Over the 9–10 September 2019, AEHA member organisations took the world stage at the APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum in Santiago, Chile.
The forum engaged more than 1,500 organisations and is the largest collective action in the APEC region to strengthen ethical business practices in the medical device and biopharmaceutical sectors.
Here AEHA showcased the progress made to date on implementing the principles in the Australian Consensus Framework for Ethical Collaboration in the Healthcare Sector (ACF), and learnt from the experiences of other delegations across the Asia Pacific.
In 2019, 87 biopharmaceutical and medical device industry associations in the APEC region have codes of ethics, reaching more than 20,000 enterprises, most of which are small businesses.
AEHA representatives at the 2019 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum
Alison Verhoeven from Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (left), Jo Watson from Consumer Health Forum (right), and Andreas Loefler, Australian Orthopaedic Association Past President (background)
We congratulate the following AEHA representatives, who volunteered to attend the 2019 APEC Forum as the Australian delegation for the meeting and proudly presented AEHA’s implementation documents and plans:
Mr Adrian Cosenza, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Orthopaedic Association and Chair, Australian Ethical Health Alliance
Dr Gillian Deakin, Representative, Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners
Dr Siaw Kang Ho, Governance Committee and Member, Skin Cancer College of Australia
Dr Andreas Loefler, Past President, Australian Orthopedic Association
Ms Alison Verhoeven, Chief Executive, Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association
Ms Michelle Wagner, Global Lead, Third Party Intermediary & Supply Chain Ethics and Compliance, Johnson and Johnson, Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA).
Ms Jo Watson, Board Director, Consumer Health Forum.
AEHA Chair Adrian Cosenza presenting the Plenary Session at the 2019 APEC Forum
Siaw Kang Ho, representing the Skin Cancer College of Australia, during question at the Plenary Session at the 2019 APEC Forum
AEHA Chair Adrian Cosenza with Michelle Wagner (left) representing MTAA, and Gillian Deakin (right) representing RACGP
Alison Verhoeven, Chief Executive of the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, presenting the Plenary Session at the 2019 APEC Forum
The AEHA’s presentation included AEHA progress made to date and was well received by the Forum. AEHA was congratulated for being the largest Framework of its type in the world; currently made up of over 70 member organisations and representing approximately 200,000 Australian health professionals, employees and trainees, and approximately 3.2 million consumers/patients.
The AEHA presentation can be downloaded as follows: APEC Forum PowerPoint presentation (Large download of 48.7MB).
Lighthouse Award Ceremony – chaired by AEHA Chair Adrian Cosenza
AEHA Chair Adrian Cosenza also chaired the Lighthouse Award Ceremony, presenting Chile as the winners of the prestigious 2019 Lighthouse Award. Australia was the winner of the award in 2018 and was privileged to pass this award to this year’s host country and worthy recipients, Chile.
The ‘Chile Consensus Framework’ follows agreements signed by eight other APEC economies, including Australia.
AEHA looks forward to progressing the implementation of the ACF principles and pursuing our aim to improve healthcare in Australia through articulation and affirmation of ethical principles that promote the interests of patients and consumers, enhance access to safe and effective healthcare, encourage ethical collaboration in the healthcare sector and build public trust.