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Focus on International

T he "International" column focuses on health care developments in other countries of interest to AMCP members and Journal readers. Health care system developments in other countries can often illuminate our own perceptions of U.S. health care, as well as help us reconsider our nation's health policies.

Travelers to, as well as students of, other nations who explore different health care arrangements often gain new insights into our own ways of organizing, financing, and controlling health services. They also note differences in the preparation for and the actual roles and relationships of health professionals, varying consumer behaviors and disease patterns, and how effective a system's outcomes can be for a given population. Alternative systems of medicine are encountered also, challenging the precepts of Western medicine. Becoming acquainted with alternative systems is essential, given our globalizing economy and a population that is changing in complexity and diversity.

Forthcoming articles in the International column will report on experiences of concern to both managed care and pharmaceutical industry representatives. On tap are pieces addressing Cuba's health system and disease state management under the British National Health Service. Past articles have summarized a drug information symposium held in then newly-unified East Germany addressing implications of who should provide the educational function, by U. Wigger and J. Salmon; a medical/pharmacy aid trip to a Peruvian village, by J. Brown; and a consultation on Khazakstan for a U.S. AID assistance toward health care market reform, by AMCP Board Member L. Barenbaum. Additional articles examined joint ventures of pharmaceutical manufacturers within the Peoples Republic of China, by A.Y. Luo, J. Salmon, and B. Lambert; and a three part series on the reasons behind the overseas ventures of Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturers, by K. Chevalier and J. Salmon. Readers are invited to submit ideas and articles to the International section, addressed to Dr. J. Warren Salmon at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 833 S. Wood Street (MC 871), Chicago, IL 60612-7229.