| In 2005, European Directive 2001/83/EC was introduced which
stated that all new pharmaceutical products must include Braille
and by 2010 all existing pharmaceutical products will have to
follow suit. This was then refined by Directive 2004/27/EC.
For pharmaceutical companies, such Directives represent a real
investment in both time and money in order to meet the legal
requirements of the Directive and the needs of the visually
impaired community.
The Directive will have an immeasurable impact on the lives
of the 20,000 or so people in the UK who choose Braille as their
preferred reading medium, but it presents a number of challenges
to pharmaceutical manufacturers and their packaging providers.
Braille is a complex method of printing, and in order to satisfy legal
requirements pharmaceutical companies will need to take a number
of steps to ensure that their packaging provides functionality for
both the sighted and the visually impaired users.
Broadly, the Directive sets out that the name of the product, its
strength (if more than one strength is available) and the form of
the drug (if both tablets and capsules are available), must be printed
in Braille on the product’s outer packaging. Clearer specifications
which relate to the height, size and spacing of the dots have not yet
been standardised.
HISTORY OF BRAILLE
The Braille alphabet was devised in 1821 by Louis Braille. The
system was developed from a code demanded by Napoleon, which
would ensure soldiers could communicate silently at night. Charles
Barbier, the original inventor of the night code met Louis Braille,
who identified that the original code was too complex to be read
easily. The six-dot cell positioning which is used today was thus
born, revolutionising written communication for blind people. |
