Puls Medycyny Pushes Public Debate

How far should a newspaper go in pushing for results following public debate about issues that affect not just its readers, but all members of society? For Polish medical journal Puls Medycyny, the answer is: pretty far. "There are many debates about the healthcare system in Poland but they end without any conclusions, nothing is happening after, there is no follow up," says Agnieszka Golabek, head of events for the paper. "With Puls Medycyny, a respected, serious and influential medical paper, we can make a noise to get people's attention and then check who has done what."

What Golabek and her team have done is create a platform for dialog - and most importantly - follow up. The platform, dubbed "Puls Medycyny - a dialog for health," is an umbrella project for the many initiatives aimed at healthcare improvement in Poland. Under the platform, the paper will convene roundtable talks and debates, set-up seminars and workshops, host congresses and conferences on topics. "The various events will be followed up by detailed recommendations for decision makers on steps to improve the quality of healthcare service, secure easier access to innovative therapies and efficient prophylactic policies in Poland," says Golabek.

The platform is open to all parties from the medical care sector: patients and patient organizations, medical specialists, pharma and medical equipment companies, pharmacists, financial institutions and politicians.

The first event was held on Sept. 28 - a panel discussion on the role of therapeutical programs in oncology. "We will put a story on the debate in the paper," says Golabek. "We will then prepare a bigger report with conclusions, signed by the participants - and those include really big names in the Polish medical community. We will send it out to decision makers in the Ministry of Health as well as on the regional level, other institutions etc. And after several weeks, we will write another article on what they think about the findings in our report and if they are going to do anything."

Golabek points out that the platform can be particularly interesting for pharmacology companies who can act as partners. "They are important players in the medical sector and they understand that they have increasingly limited direct access to specialists," she says. "We offer them a neutral platform: If the topic they want to raise is really important, we can invite people to talk about it, of course without any guarantee that the result of the debate will be exactly what they want to achieve. And they understand that, and they still want to be our partners." For example, GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer and Roche joined forces and financed the debate about oncology.