[Pharmaco-economic evaluations of new drugs: potential key to a more efficient allocation of the health care budget]. / Farmaco-economische evaluaties van nieuwe geneesmiddelen: mogelijk de sleutel tot een doelmatiger verdeling van het gezondheidszorgbudget.

In the light of rising expenditure on drugs and health care, a transparent, rational and careful decision-making process is required for the reimbursement of drugs. In the Netherlands, the Ministry of Health intends using pharmaco-economics in this process, i.e., new drugs will not only be judged on their clinical efficacy but also on their cost-effectiveness. Guidelines for pharmaco-economic research in the Netherlands have been published. According to these guidelines, a pharmaco-economic study must contain a cost-effectiveness analysis and/or a cost-utility analysis. In addition, a budgetary impact analysis is required. By 2005, all new drugs with therapeutic added value must supply a pharmaco-economic evaluation in order to apply for reimbursement. It will be the Minister of Health who decides whether a new drug will be reimbursed.

Surveillance of respiratory pathogens and influenza-like illnesses in general practices - The Netherlands, winter 1997-98.

The Netherlands Institute of Primary Health Care (NIVEL) has coordinated the activities of a sentinel surveillance network of 43 general practices since 1970. These practices care for 1% of the Dutch population, a sample representative of the national pop

European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS): objectives and organisation.

Effective European surveillance must have the agreement and active involvement of all participants, concluded a European Union (EU) conference on the need for surveillance of resistant microorganisms (the microbial threat), held in September 1998 in De