Summary - Natural Health Products Program Advisory Committee Spring 2010 Member Selection and Appointment Process

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August 2010

• A-Selection
• B-Appointment

A - Selection

The NHP-PAC was established in August 2009 with an inaugural membership appointed for a one-year term. The May 2010 NHP-PAC Call for Nominations was launched to identify Active Members of the ongoing NHP-PAC.

In selecting Active Members for the 2010 round, the following areas were considered relevant:

• breadth of experience and familiarity with the natural health products regulatory framework; in particular knowledge and expertise in targeted areas of interest and considerations;
• representation within one or more of the identified member groups, with overall membership reflecting the diversity of stakeholder interests: consumer/patients; industry, retail, health care professionals, researcher/ academic and other (regulatory body);
• appointments that support member rotation for committee continuity (from the inaugural committee).

Of relevance were expertise and experience in the following issue areas for which Health Canada's NHP Program partners (Natural Health Products Directorate, Marketed Health Products Directorate and Health Product and Food Branch Inspectorate) will seek views, feedback, advice and recommendations from the NHP-PAC:

• adverse reaction reporting and increasing the number and quality of reports;
• compliance promotion;
• information including availability of evidence to support safety, efficacy and quality of NHPs (data, e.g., fungal enzymes, probiotics and weight loss/weight management), and stakeholder focussed material (e.g., guidance, public information).

In addition, selection of Active Members included attention to expertise and experience of member groups in the following areas of interest:

Sector	Targeted Interest Area	Considerations
Consumer and Patients	Understanding needs of non-industry stakeholders, including but not limited to information / risk communication	• national or regional association or network • experience in health product safety, including NHPs
Industry	Understanding needs of industry stakeholders, including but not limited to product regulation related to quality, safety, efficacy and GMPs.	• small, medium and large enterprise • national or regional association • manufacturing, labelling, importing • retail • export, domestic • specific product areas
Other	Understanding needs of non-industry stakeholders, including but not limited to information / risk communication Technical expertise in NHP risk assessment	• representative of significant stakeholder sector constituency • regulatory body • regulated health care profession
	Technical expertise related to safety, efficacy and quality of NHPs	• technical/research institute • national association or network • risk assessment, standards of evidence, product testing, methodologies

B - Appointment

Thirty-five (35) applications were received as part of this open call for nominations. Of these, seventeen (17) candidates were selected for appointment by the Selection Committee. Nine (9) of the selected candidates were members of the inaugural NHP-PAC. Candidates not selected for appointment as Active Members will be invited to keep their information on file with the Natural Health Products Directorate so that they may be contacted for other NHP-PAC processes requiring their experience and expertise, including potential participation as members of an NHP-PAC working group or as Active Member of the NHP-PAC to fill a vacancy relevant to their expertise.

The Selection Committee, comprised of the NHP-PAC Chair and NHP Program Director Generals, identified a gap for the consumer/patient group (for which only two nominations were received) and determined that an additional consumer/patient group should be invited to participate as active member of the committee, bringing the total complement to 18 members.

To support rotation and continuity, terms for Active Members appointed as part of the 2010 Call for Nomination are:

• 2-year term (August 1, 2010 to July 31, 2012):
  • The selected member was an Active Member of the inaugural NHP-PAC (2009-2010), or
  • The selected member's organization was represented on the inaugural NHP-PAC (with a different representative from the organization participating as Active Member).
• 3 -year term (August 1, 2010 to July 31, 2013):
  • The selected member was not a member of the inaugural committee.