HHS NEWS

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

P98-6                      FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      Print Media:         301-827-6242
February 5, 1998           
                           Consumer Inquiries:  800-532-4440

HAMMER AWARD FOR U.S.- U.K. TEAM COMBATING COUNTERFEIT DRUGS

Vice President Al Gore and United Kingdom's Prime Minister Tony Blair will join in a State Department ceremony honoring a team of experts from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK's Medicines Control Agency (MCA) for combating international traffic in counterfeit pharmaceutical chemicals.

The FDA-MCA team, which shares resources, technology, and information, is the first international group to receive Vice President Al Gore's Hammer Award for improving the performance of the government. The Vice President and the Prime Minister will present the award, a $6 hammer, at a breakfast reception for members of FDA's Central Regional office and the Forensic Chemistry Center and their MCA colleagues on Friday morning, February 6.

FDA and MCA carry out independent worldwide regulatory inspections of manufacturers of pharmaceutical chemicals, but they have eliminated costly duplicative efforts by informally sharing samples, methodologies, and information bearing on the manufacture of counterfeit drugs. The FDA and MCA have created an "informal" model for future international reinvention projects. Their focus was on achieving results, not generating paperwork.

"Both the American and the British people are getting safer medicines because of the joint efforts of these outstanding government employees," said Vice President Gore.

The Hammer Award is the down-to-earth symbol of Vice President Al Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government, a five year-old, major initiative to make the government work better for less. The program honors federal employees and their partners who have joined forces to cut red tape, streamlined procedures and got back to basic concerns of consumers.

In addition to a plain carpenter's hammer, the award includes a ribbon and the Vice President's note of appreciation, all set in an aluminum frame.

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