Benefits and challenges of electronic package leaflet (ePL) - review of ePL pilots in hospital settings in Europe.
Eur J Pharm Sci
; 191: 106605, 2023 Dec 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37821011
ABSTRACT
Inclusion of package leaflets in paper format is a legal requirement in European Union (EU), therefore the electronic package leaflet (ePL) is a relatively unknown phenomenon in medicinal products in Europe. Introduction of ePL only would be a more sustainable format of providing the product information than paper package leaflet. Furthermore, ePL would support health care professionals' comprehension of product use through electronic searchability and facilitate access to up-to-date product information in respective language used. It could also help us to tackle the availability issues and be a further step towards common packages. With this commentary, our aim is to review the ongoing ePL pilots in hospital settings in Europe and identify the benefits and challenges of ePL. Based on our review, there is a broad general support for the removal of paper package leaflets from hospital products. Packages without paper package leaflets are considered more sustainable due to savings in production and materials. Furthermore, ePL could be a facilitator for common packages in EU-countries with the benefit of reducing pharmaceutical waste and drug shortages. The most important benefit from both pharmaceutical industry and healthcare professionals' interest is that current and on-line updated product information is always electronically available, especially from drug safety perspective.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Compreensão
/
Indústria Farmacêutica
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur J Pharm Sci
Assunto da revista:
FARMACIA
/
FARMACOLOGIA
/
QUIMICA
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article