Prof. Graham Dukes (University of Oslo, Norway) and Dr Elisabet Helsing (-Dukes) (Norwegian Health Inspectorate) first visited Iran on the NIKI trip of 2008. At the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Prof. Dukes delivered a lecture on the global development of pharmaceutical policies, while Dr Helsing described the evolution of current thinking on infant nutrition and the resurgence of breast feeding in Europe. Both participated in general discussions with University staff on current trends in medical education, while Dr Helsing discussed current thinking in nutrition policy in Europe and Iran. During the days following, together with other participants in the NIKI group, they flew to Tabriz where the University programme included a lecture by Prof Dukes to a large student audience on the manner in which countries are learning from one another to ensure the future of drug development, safety and supply and to encourage sound prescribing.
This successful visit led to a second mission a year later when Prof Dukes and Dr Helsing attended the "Second International Congress on Promotion of Laboratory Science Quality" and contributed to the discussions on the detection of quality defects and counterfeit medicines. Dr Dukes subsequently chaired an examination session at the Shahid Beheshti University where a senior candidate was examined on his thesis concerning the future of responsible practice in community pharmacy. During the following days, both visitors joined Prof.Mahmoud Abassi and a group of postgraduate students in the Institute of Medical Ethics for discussions on ethical issues in medicine and pharmacy. As a direct result, Prof. Dukes joined the Editorial Board of the Institute’s journals and it was decided to translate his book on The Law and Ethics of the Pharmaceutical Industry for publication in Iran. During the following days visits included one to the Midwifery Unit of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, where Dr Helsing was able to examine some current practices in Iranian infant care. One of these involved a special tunic to hold the premature breastfeeding baby; a tunic was presented to her and she was later able to demonstrate it to the staff of the national breastfeeding centre in Oslo, Norway. A final visit during the visit was devoted to examining the programme of basic and applied research at the Pharmacy School of Shahid Beheshti University, directed by Prof. Farshad Shirazi.
Early in 2010, Prof and Mrs Farshad visited Europe and met Prof.Dukes in Geneva to discuss matters of mutual interest. This led to a third mission to Iran in August 2010 when Prof. Dukes and Dr Helsing attended the 12th Iranian Pharmaceutical Sciences Congress in Zanjan, during which a Seminar on the problems of dealing with counterfeit drugs was presented jointly by the Shahid Beheshti Pharmacy School and the University of Oslo. Experts from the Ministry of Health in Tehran presented current plans for countering this illegal trade. A joint publication has been drawn up and will appear in 2011. Subsequent to the Zanjan Congress there were discussions with University Research Centres in Zanjan itself, in Hamadan and in Kermanshah. In Teheran there was a meeting with Canadian and Iranian experts regarding the use of patents to protect rights in scientific innovation.
This series of visits, initiated in 2008 by NIKI, is expected to continue in both directions and has progressively laid the basis for a programme of active collaboration between Iran and Norway in the areas of pharmaceutical innovation and policy and infant nutrition but also in health law and ethics. Particularly where the development of new and improved medicines is concerned, there has been serious stagnation at the international level in recent years. Iran, with ambitious programmes of therapeutic research, in which teams of young scientists enjoy high training standards as well as excellent financing and facilities, is clearly very well placed to provide the sort of breakthroughs in health care for which the world is waiting.
Prof Graham Dukes
Oslo, Norway
January 2011
