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EADA and ICH will train healthcare managers

EADA is entering the vibrant consumer healthcare market with a new programme for managers from this sector wish to broaden their expertise through best practices as well as extend their networking. This new Consumer Healthcare Management Programme is set to be launched in February 2017 in conjunction with Instituto Consumer Healthcare (ICH), an organisation set up last June by professionals from different areas in the healthcare sector in order to share experiences and identify challenges and trends in the sector. 

“With this programme we intend to help sector professionals who want to enter this market, which over the last year grew 3.1% and generated almost 5.5 billion euros in revenue, but who don’t know how to do so nor the channels where there the most opportunities lie”, points out Josep Maria Adalid, president of ICH. To which he went on to add, “when we talk about consumer healthcare we are referring to the growing demand for products related to prevention and healthcare, which do not require a medical prescription”. 

Consumer Healthcare: A growing market

More specifically, these products are divided into OTC – all products that do not require a doctor’s prescription and that are not reimbursed –, Personal Care – products which fall into the cosmetics range, such as anti-aging creams or toothpastes–, Patient Care –which includes anything from personal healthcare products such as band aids, compression socks, thermometers and wristband fitness trackers as well as personal hygiene and health products such as nappies, baby feeding bottles and sanitary towels– and Nutrition –food supplements such as vitamins or special diets–.

According to Mr. Adalid, “managers have to deal with a sector that is evolving at a dizzying pace and that is growing year by year, mainly due to the fact that consumers have a greater amount of information and greater purchasing power, as well as to increased social awareness around personal care and to the drive that large retailers are making in selling OTC offerings”. In this environment “professionals spot a market opportunity but do not know how to position themselves, how to innovate with their products and how to reach final consumers, who are the ones that ultimately take the purchasing decisions”.

A unique programme for healthcare professionals

In order to address the current needs of sector professionals, the Consumer Healthcare Management programme is comprised of 64 contact hours divided up into 10 sessions: six of them on the Collbató Residential Campus, which are meant to provide a holistic perspective, plus four more specific sessions on the Barcelona Campus –focusing on the OTC, Personal Care, Patient Care and Nutrition channels–.

“All the sessions will adopt a clear practical approach in line with our learning by doing methodology, given that what participants are interested in is studying real cases in each specific consumer healthcare channel as well as in exchanging knowhow and expertise with other experts and professionals”, explains Miquel Espinosa, EADA’s general director. Furthermore, he points out, “EADA contributes its broad experience in this field, backed by the widespread recognition of its Master in Pharmaceutical Marketing, targeted at professionals aspiring to a management post in the pharmaceutical industry, and its Master in Pharmaceutical Industry Management, designed for science graduates who want to focus more on management rather than on research”.