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First EHI Assembly

PRESS RELEASE

First EHI General Assembly heralded great success

Copenhagen, 2nd September 2003

The first General Assembly of European Healthcare Initiative, EAN International’s push into the healthcare supply chains across Europe, was declared a “huge success” by the Initiative’s Chairman, Jim Bracken.

The General Assembly was attended by all healthcare representatives of EAN International’s Membership Organisations throughout Europe. The meeting discussed the strategy for the European Healthcare Initiative and its progress in maximising the use of the EAN.UCC System of identification, bar coding and electronic commerce standards across European supply chains to hospitals and community pharmacies.

The European Healthcare Initiative was launched earlier this year by the European member organisations of EAN International to significantly increase the adoption of the EAN.UCC System in the healthcare market across Europe. Primarily concentrating on the supply chains to hospitals and community pharmacies, EAN International is convinced that the wide-spread adoption of its global standards of identification, bar coding and electronic commerce messaging in the healthcare market, can significantly cut supply chain costs, reduce risk to patients and help improve patient care.

Jim Bracken, Director of EAN Ireland and Chairman of the European Healthcare Initiative Supervisory Board, enthused: “Our meeting today demonstrated just what can be achieved by market focus and the targeted promotion of what is an undeniable value proposition we have for European healthcare. The Initiative has only been up and running for eight months and we already have projects underway in the supply chains for pharmaceuticals, clotting factor concentrates for haemophiliacs, vaccines and very small healthcare items. We are also looking at the application of the EAN.UCC System for the tracking and tracing of blood supplies and organs. Through the close involvement of our healthcare people across Europe, we can work as one European-wide Team to provide a total support network of expertise and advice to help our members implement the EAN.UCC System, regardless of country borders.”

Guests of the General Assembly were senior representatives of the top two pharmaceutical wholesalers in Europe, Mr Durand of Celesio and Dr Novaresi of Phoenix, both members of the GIRP (European Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Association), Technical Committee. They presented their views on the need for greater supply chain efficiency and improved patient care by the adoption of more sophisticated methods of automatic data capture and electronic communications between their suppliers and customers.

Bracken summarised: “Today’s General Assembly will be the first of many such annual events – our European Healthcare Initiative is really going places and we want to ensure our members and prospective members know just how much value we can add in healthcare. Spreading the word through our healthcare representatives in each European country is the way to do it.”

Ends

Notes for the Editor:

GS1 (formerly EAN International)
The mission of GS1 and the Membership Organisations, is to take a leading role in establishing a global multi-industry system of identification and communication for products, services and locations based on internationally accepted and business led standards.

The objective is to improve the efficiency of integrated logistics while contributing added value to partners involved, as well as to consumers.

GS1 is a global organisation of over 100 independent national bodies -the Member Organisations - representing 145 countries. They support the needs of nearly one million member companies who conduct more than 5 billion transactions per day in 23 sectors of industry (including healthcare) using the standards.

European Healthcare Initiative

Representatives of seventeen EAN Membership Organisations are involved in the Initiative, led by a Central Team.

The countries are:

For more information contact:

Christian Hay (Switzerland) on +41 76 369 10 54 or email: hay@gs1health.net

Go to: reducing risk through certainty GS1 at Logipharma 2003