Associate Parliamentary Health Group

This article is part of the Foodspin project of Spinwatch.

This article is part of the Pharma_Portal project of Spinwatch.

The Associate Parliamentary Health Group (APHG) is according to its website "an all-party parliamentary subject group dedicated to disseminating knowledge, generating debate and facilitating engagement with health issues amongst Members of Parliament. APHG comprises members of all political parties, provides information with balance and impartiality, focuses on local as well as national matters, and is recognised as one of the preferred sources of information on health in Parliament.

The APHG was launched in November 2001, following discussions and with Ministers of Government, the Department of Health, the NHS Executive, and senior Parliamentarians, on the basis that Members of Parliament need as much high quality and impartial information as possible to fulfil their crucial role in the UK's health programme."

Funding

A March 2010 article in the Financial Times provided a critique of All-Party groups for "taking money from private companies regularly without any obligation to declare how the funds are used". It singled out the Associate Parliamentary Health Group, which it said:

receives £168,000 a year in “associate membership fees” from 26 health-related and pharmaceutical companies. These include AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer. The money helps to fund “extensive online facilities”, including an exclusive database of localised health data, which is available to MPs and paying associate member companies.

Secretariat

The secretariat and other administrative services to the APHG was supplied by Networking for Industry (NFI) a not for profit organisation.

According to Companies House, NFI's name was changed to Policy Connect in December 2007. Policy Connect's group manager, Sally Percy holds a parliamentary pass.

Sponsors

The register in September 2010 disclosed that a £7000 associate membership fee received from each of the following: Sanofi-Pasteur, Grunenthall, Alliance Boots, Novo Nordisk, Takeda, Bristol Myers Squibb (registered July 2010) and from Abbott Laboratories, WCI, Sanofi Aventis (registered August 2010).

People

Officers

• Baroness Julia Cumberlege. Also vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy
• Sandra Gidley MP. Also a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy
• Dr Howard Stoate MP. Also a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pharmacy, the Men's Health Forum and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Men's Health until he stood down from politics in April 2010
• Anne Milton MP
• Baroness Masham of Ilton
• David Drew MP
• Patrick Hall MP
• Dr Richard Taylor MP.

Advisory Panel

• Professor Sir George Alberti
• Professor Christine Beasley
• Professor Sir Kenneth Calman
• Professor Sir Ian Kennedy
• Professor David Taylor
• Baroness Julia Cumberlege
• Lord Toby Harris
• Barry Sheerman MP. Sheerman is chair and founding member of Networking for Industry
• David Colin-Thome
• Duncan Eaton
• Bernard Dunkley

APHG Life President

Bernard Dunkley

• APHG Life President
• Active in the Pharmaceuticals Industry for 37 years
• Former national field sales manager for Lederle Laboratories
• UK and Government Affairs Director for Lederle and Wyeth Laboratories UK

Associate members

An Associate Parliamentary Group also allows voting rights to persons in addition to Members of the House of Commons or Lords who are part of the group (unlike an All-Party Parliamentary Group which restricts voting rights to only Members).

The APHG lists several associate members including:

• Abbott laboratories
• Alliance Boots
• Astra Zeneca
• Bristol Myers Squibb Company
• BT
• BUPA
• CIT
• IBM
• Kimberley Clark Professional
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Pfizer
• SanofiAventis
• Schering Plough
• Wyeth

. Administration of the Register