Voices from the people What does the name Swissmedic mean to you?

An experienced camera crew and journalist team spent a whole day finding out how well known Swissmedic is and what status it enjoys among the public at large. They discovered that most people have heard of Swissmedic, but very few are aware of all the things the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products does. On the trail in Bern and Fribourg.

A cold morning in February. The sky over Bern is weeping. The nation’s capital is slowly coming to life. Most of the people out and about are elderly. They are buying produce at the market, have doctor’s appointments or are simply looking for signs of life among the cold dreariness of winter.

Our survey begins at Waisenhausplatz in the old town. Today, a lot of people are studiously avoiding the interviewer. They’re afraid of getting caught up in yet another COVID survey, or they simply don’t feel like talking so early in the day – and definitely not in front of a camera. Cessica Prontera is at least interested, and she’s willing to talk. She associates the name Swissmedic with health and medicine, but she’s not interested in what that actually means. "I don’t have much to do with medicine and I steer clear of the subject", she says tersely.

"Of course, Swissmedic. Everyone knows them. They’re responsible for authorisations, package leaflets and things like that."
Kudi Caballero

Dina Christ, on the other hand, is familiar with the name and knows that Swissmedic reviews medicines, approves them for use and issues licences for Switzerland. Yet she knows nothing about the existence of an organisation that preceded it. The fact is that nowadays, practically nobody has any recollection of the Intercantonal Office for the Control of Medicines (IOCM).

Another lady prefers not to give her name. She neither knows the name Swissmedic ("Never heard of it") nor what it stands for. "I probably live on another planet", she says with a shrug. Kudi Caballero is quite the opposite. When asked "Are you familiar with the Swiss therapeutic products agency?", he shoots back: "Of course, Swissmedic. Everyone knows them. They’re responsible for authorisations, package leaflets and things like that."

"Oh, Swissmedic: they’re the ones that monitor things."
Isabelle Meier Glauser

Next stop is Bundesplatz, Bern’s parliament square, where visitors to the weekly market are few and far between today. Maybe the filthy weather is keeping them away. It looks like the ordinary folk would rather stay home and keep warm – but there are some exceptions. One of them is Isabelle Meier Glauser, although she’s not able to tell us the name of the therapeutic products agency without prompting. When we tell her, she remembers at once, "Oh, Swissmedic: they’re the ones that monitor things."

Regina Frischknecht und Ilara Honegger — Regina Frischknecht and Ilara Honegger

Some of the people we ask have the wrong idea. Some think that Swissmedic controls prices, others that Swissmedic is also responsible for assessing cosmetics. Most of them catch on quickly with a little help: they associate Swissmedic with the authorisation of COVID-19 vaccines and have heard the name in connection with the coronavirus if nothing else.

"Swissmedic is responsible for authorising medicines. They also look after research and development. Swissmedic is an important regulatory body."
Ruedi Kuhn

It’s stopped raining. Our next stop is Hirschengraben outside the western entrance to Bern station. Here we meet Regina Frischknecht and Ilara Honegger, two teenagers. They have no idea what the Swiss therapeutic products agency is called or what it does, but they’re interested in learning more about it. It’s a start.

Ruedi Kuhn, on the other hand, is well informed. "Swissmedic is responsible for authorising medicines", he says with confidence. And there’s more. "They also look after research and development." And "Swissmedic is an important regulatory body."

We move on to our next stop, Grosse Schanze park in the Länggasse district, Bern’s university quarter. You would normally expect to find dozens of students here at this time of day – today it’s empty because the students are on their semester break. We run into Adrian Tromp and his wife. "Tromp like the former US President, but with an o", he explains with a laugh. He turns out to be an expert on Swissmedic. "They approve applications from industry when they want to launch and sell new medicines. They review, assess and then approve these applications", the spry octogenarian adds.

Time to move on – the next stop on our itinerary is Fribourg. We are met with a shower of hail – hardly ideal conditions for a street survey.

"Swissmedic, I know that name. It’s a label that regulates something, isn’t it?"
Loris Tamaro

But an amazingly large number of people are out and about in the old town and they are happy to talk to us. One of them is Caroline Julmy, who turns out to be well versed on the subject: "Swissmedic, they’re involved in research and the authorisation of medicines and vaccines." Elli Zbinden isn’t sure what the Swiss therapeutic products agency is, but she’s on the ball when we mention the name Swissmedic. "They check medicines before they can be sold."

We advance further into the old town, to Rue de Lausanne. The impression we’ve been getting all day is reinforced here. A lot of people have heard the name Swissmedic, but very few of them know anything about it. Most of the people we talk to are in the dark until we mention the word COVID. They include Jacques Péry, Julia Schmidiger, Joline Boschung and a group of young schoolgirls.

Loris Tamaro sums it up for us: "Swissmedic, I know that name. It’s a label that regulates something, isn’t it? Perfumes and beauty products, I reckon." Or in other words, there is still work to be done when it comes to increasing people’s understanding of what Swissmedic’s responsibilities are.

Probed

Voices from the people What does the name Swissmedic mean to you?